Secrets of Glory
by Rejar
Summary: It had been a mistake on the school's part to enroll her as a male student. Meant to be a small prank, she'd only wanted to play along for a day or two. Now she was stuck with the role, with all the tempting chances it offered. But she wasn't certain whether she could manage to shine within the shaky reality she'd built herself.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Prince of Tennis. Now off you go.**

* * *

The door fell close shut behind her as she slipped out of her shoes. The paper bag crackled with each move. "I'm home," she shouted into the house. A hushed 'come in!' was the only answer she received.

She whistled in awe upon entering the living room. Her mother stood by the kitchen counter in the far back, chuckling at her reaction while simultaneously cutting up food for dinner. The air tingled of the lemony fragrance of freshly polished wood and the woolen carpet near the sofa was soft to her feet. The contrast of the white fluffy material to the dark wood went well together.

"Like what you see, eh?" Her brother lounged on the new leather and had his best smug grin on, looking at her through heavy-lidded eyes and messy honey curls. With an amused roll of her eyes she threw the paper bag right at him. Like a racoon his head instantly disappeared in the dephts of the bag for inspection.

"I can't believe you did all this in a few hours. All alone, too," she said and plopped down next to her brother, pulling off the beanie she'd worn outside. The flat hair sprung to life with just a shake of her head.

She wound out of her coat, throwing it over the armrest before reaching for the remote on the couch table in front of her to turn the TV on. It flickered to senses without problems, bubbly and quirky Japanese people running around in a flashy advertisement. She wiggled her brows at her brother. He shrugged his shoulders, smiling wryly. "Priorities."

"You shouldn't go upstairs, though, dear," her mom called out. Toshio groaned, smile turning lopsided as he looked over his shoulder.

"Give me some rest. I'm just one man."

"With a working computer but no bed," she hummed, just out of sight from this angle.

Toshio stuck his tongue out chidlishly nonetheless. It earned him an invisible snort and a "Keep the tongue in."

The siblings stared at each other. _How did she...?_ They shook their heads. _Better not ask._

Toshio carefully pulled out the uniforms from the bag while his sister looked up and down the freshly furnished living room. The open space felt good. They'd arrived on Friday and barely managed to enter the house as it was, filled with moving boxes to the brim. Maybe sending their packed stuff over first before following in the last plane they could possibly get had been a _slightly_ wrongheaded plan.

"What's this?" Toshio's voice snapped her out of her musing. Both new uniforms laid outstretched on the table; black pants, white shirts and a dark blue tie with white stripes to round it out. The issue here was as clear as day. "They're the same," he ended flatly.

She looked at the piece of paper taped on the pocket of the smaller sized of the white shirts. _Kobayashi Minori. _"That's _my_ name." She cocked her head to the side. She could've sworn she was supposed to wear a–

"You liar!" Hands grasped her by the shoulders and forcefully turned her around, shaking her that the short hair whipped to all sides. "You're a boy, Minori_-kun_?" Toshio asked and mustered her body, shamelessly stopping at breast height. She smacked him over the head. Bastard. This obivously had to be some sort of misunderstanding.

Their mother walked in, wiping her hands clean on the red-checkered apron and its cheesy heart. Her long hair was tied in a loose pony tail, the same color as her brother's nest on his head. With curious eyes she neared the table, kneeling down on the fluffy carpet. She looked back and forth between the uniform and her daughter.

"You're a boy, Minori-kun?" She cocked her head to the side comically. Toshio cackled loudly while Minori stifled a curse and slammed her palm against her forehead. Mom patted her on the knees lightly. "I'm just kidding." These two were definitely blood-related in the 'conspiring against the youngest family member' area of expertise.

"How could this happen?" she asked aloud, turning the attention back on the problem at hand. In thought she ran her physical hand through her short hair. And froze. An unexpected explanation dawned on her. By the look on her mother's face, she'd guessed the same.

"Minori _is _an unisex name," she drawled out, avoiding the derailed face of her shocked daughter. A hand quickly cupped her mouth and between trembling shoulders a barely restrained _"Pfff" _escaped her lips.

Deciding to ignore that malicious joy for once, Minori jumped off the sofa. She stormed towards the door, rummaging through her mothers coat once she reached it. _A picture. I need a picture!_ With the wallet in hand she returned, holding it next to her face; the picture of the siblings that her mother always carried around turned towards them for comparison. The children smiled into the camera: his arm on her shoulder while she loosely hugged him around the stomach, long hair reaching just past her shoulders.

_Japan has got to be kidding me_, she thought as she pointed at her own face. _This school has got to be kidding me!_ The two other Kobayashi family members inspected her and the picture for barely a second before talking in perfect turns.

"You lost weight," Mom started, professionally avoiding her daughter's glare by pinching the fluff of the carpet.

"Obviously your hair is totally short now," her brother pointed at her head.

"Yes. You freshly cut it because that stupid bubble gum just wouldn't get out," Mom mumbled with a raised finger and a sad sigh. "Such a loss..."

"You were tired when we took it, too," Toshio finished, his hand on his chin. "Eyebags equals no femininity." Mom nodded fervently to that again, instantly reverting back to her bubbly mood.

Minori deadpanned. They shrugged.

_What a blunt and lovely family. _

Silence spread across the room. The cooking pot in the kitchen bubbled for attention. Blinking eyes searched for understanding.

Then they all went down in laughter.

Spread out on the new carpet, she clutched her stomach as another wave washed over her. _This is so ridiculous!_ Minori wiped the tears from her eyes. All because of a stupid bubble gum prank over on the other side of the world. If she'd known the far reach, she would've punched the prankish boy in the gut to avoid it. "It's Monday anyway. I'll just go back later to correct the mistake," she said between giggles. Since they moved so narrowly on the weekend, the school had offered them the first day off to settle in.

Suddenly the tides were turned and she was the only one left laughing and hiccupping. Her mother's face hovered above hers on the ground, filling her whole vision like a future mirror to her own. She didn't say anything – she didn't have to, either. Her pleading eyes spoke volumes. Minori stared at her, mirth slowly turning to disbelief. Her mother couldn't be thinking _that_. Her own mother!

Yet she didn't budge, inching closer with each passing second.

"No," the younger female said weakly. Silent pleading gave way to a pouting pink-lipped mouth. Minori shook her head and crossed her arms.

Her mother held up one sole finger. "Just one week." Minori shook her head vehemently. Her back met the ground in her mother's relentless attempt to back her into a corner – literally.

"One day?" Minori's expression was as blank as before. The tips of honey hair tickled her cheek as she loomed above her grounded form. "You didn't know about the differences. You're just a stupid, jet-lagged foreigner. _Amelicanski!_" Her impression of the Japanese accent had definitely gotten better over the years, that much she'd give her.

"You're _supposed_ to be my mom! Stopping your child from doing nonsense is your wordly duty," she drawled out with a cocked brow. Not that she knew better from her childish mom. Her Japan-loving mom. Manga-loving mom. The last was the biggest factor adding to this dilemma, that much was a given. Hell, if even her grandparents couldn't control the overly-determined French woman, what chances did she hold as her own child?

In a last attempt she searched for her brother's eyes. All it did was confirm her suspicion that he wouldn't join her side. He merely shrugged his shoulders with a grin. 'Conspire against the youngest family member' – another primce example again. But mom held the absolute advantage. Every time.

As expected, she dismissed her daughter with a simple wink of her hand as she uprighted herself. "You're so lucky to get this chance. Such a great story to tell your children! My grandchildren!"

It was mom's turn to cross her arms, looking at her from over her shoulders like an angry 6-year-old. Minori knew that look and winced as if she'd been slapped. "I didn't raise a _boring coward_, did I?"

* * *

The teacher gave a reassuring smile before opening the door to the class and stepping inside. A small, simple sign showcased the class number before the door fell close after them. _2-D._

The moment they entered, the focus of thirty-something pairs of eyes immediately shifted towards them. Hushed conversations halted and tired faces lit up with curiosity at the unknown person intruding the class room in the morn.

"From today on we have a new student in this class. He just moved to Japan from America, so please treat him well." The teacher turned to look at who he'd just announced. "Please introduce yourself."

She inhaled deeply and turned her focus towards the class, eyes glancing over the unknown faces. One hand in her pocket, the other holding onto one of the straps of her backpack. "I'm Kobayashi Minori. I'm half French, half Japanese. Just moved a few days ago." She paused in thought. "_Yoroshiku_, I guess you'd say." She gave a curt bow with a delighted grin and some girls in the front rows chuckled at the display.

"You don't have _any_ foreign name?" A boy called out to her, disbelief and disappointment evident in his voice.

Minori shrugged her shoulders and gave a crooked smile. "No fancy foreign name, sorry." She drove a hand through her tousled brown hair. "At least I look the part, right?" Her hair was soft like feathers and gray eyes gleamed in the complete opposite way of Asian black ones.

A few more students snickered and the boy gave her a thumbs up. It wasn't really a daily routine to cosplay a boy but apparently it worked out just fine! "I will be in your care then," she added with a fluttering heart towards the end.

The teacher pointed her to her seat and she plopped down next to a girl in the second last row. She smiled shyly at Minori. "I'm Inoue Chiaki. If you need any help you can always ask me," she whispered quietly and with a lowered head that the silky black hair slipped over her shoulder.

Minori nodded. "Thanks, Chiaki-chan." The girl blushed at the casualty but Minori didn't notice the effect she had. She loosened her tie a little and pulled out her note book and pencil case, looking upfront and trying to play down the curious stares mustering her. _I'm not interesting. Look away! _she shooed them off in her mind.

She resisted the urge to glance down where tightly wrapped bandages concealed her breasts. This was so ridiculous. When she'd looked into the mirror one last time, even she was surprised at the young boy staring back with his styled hair and school uniform.

The last of the heads turned away from her when the teacher started talking. She exhaled shakily, relaxing her tense shoulders when nobody could see. They'd be asking questions later.

Her heart raced in exhilarating speeds and she couldn't help the small smile forming on her lips. _Ridiculous, yet s__o exciting._

* * *

She looked up when a familiar voice called out her name and waved at him. His height and thick, messy hair stood out amongst the retreating waves of students on the yard; completely out of place in the mass. Toshio looked exactly like she felt: barely able to refrain from shouting and dancing happily. He hesitated before he gave her a tight, one-handed hug and leaned closer in on her.

"How did it go?" he asked quietly. All she did in response was to show him the widest grin she could manage on her face. Now that he was here, she couldn't hold it back.

"I'm the perfect boy," she whispered back and held back an excited squeal. Really, she shouldn't feel all that proud of that fact. But the sheer successrate she had!

There was not a note of doubt in their asking, their eyes, their behavior. She was Kobayashi Minori, the male transfer student from America; a fun new addition that was easily overwhelmed with the young students' quick Japanese and turned to Inoue Chiaki for protection and translation.

"I feel a little bad about lying but it's so _fun. _They eat out of my palm!" He gave her a wry look. She shrugged, still smiling like goon. _One can never go against mother's wishes, _the two of them telepathically confirmed.

They strolled across the yard, squeezing the opposite way of the students and started exploring the enormous school. As she'd gathered already, they would have to choose a club to join sooner or later. She'd have to somehow sneak a peek at the girls' sport clubs without looking like a complete pervert but they'd get to that when the problem arose.

"I have physical education on Thursday and swimming on Friday. I got P.E. off today because I don't have any sportswear yet," she said as she slurped more of her orange juice before offering him some. He declined, his eyes faraway and thinking about the new information. He had turned into her on-field coach in regards to the temporary disguise.

The 'stupid jet-lagged foreigner' idea had turned into a fool-proof strategy over the course of the day. Girls_ technically_ weren't restricted to wearing the girl's uniform anyway. Just because she'd been sent and wearing the male one, didn't mean that she was breaking any rule. Just bending them. No harm done but a snall blow to her image.

It was just a little prank. Nothing to be upset about in the long run, right?

"You'll show your true gender on Friday then. You can't show up in trunks for swimming class. Avoiding P.E. one more time isn't difficult, but avoiding all activity is lame." He absentmindedly took a sip through the straw in the end. "Just make sure to wear your cutest bikini and all you did will be forgiven and forgotten immediately," he winked. She gave him a playful whack on the arm.

"Still, that's four days. One school week." She paused briefly, tugging at the short-sleeved shirt of her uniform. "Imagine being disguised until I graduate."

"No one ever said to go _that _far. We just wanted a little fun," he snickered. "Although, now that you've offered it, I would love to see..." he trailed off and pointed to her left side, focusing on something else entirely already.

She froze on the spot.

Ten tennis courts in pairs of two crowned the backside of the school yard. High green fences surrounded them, keeping the balls in and the buildings safe. They looked alluring with their tidy fields, unmarred by dirt or grime; inviting to play a game or two. Dull sounds of balls bouncing off the ground and the shouting of people reached their ears soon after they discovered the courts. Toshio nudged her towards them.

She shot him a worried glance but he shook his head. "Just one look. I heard they're famous for their tennis." She clenched her teeth, mood dampening. He knew which buttons to press but this didn't make her happy.

"Toshio," she warned.

"A _look._"

Giving in, they soon found themselves clutching to the varnished fence, waiting for the players to finish their warm-ups and start a match.

After they'd stretched, some of the players started easy training with the tennis balls, throwing them high up before hitting a powerful serve at various objects and markings. They let the ball dance across the white lines of the field or volleyed it against other yellow shadows passing by_._ Her eyes never strayed off the balls, reeled in by the way it was so expertisely flung around.

One of the players waved at them, wanting them to come inside. "He's in my class," Toshio said after squinting his eyes at the 3rd-year and reluctantly they entered the fields.

"You interested in tennis, Kobayashi?" he asked them when they came closer. Toshio immediately pointed down at her.

"Minori is." He nodded fervently while rocking his heels. The angry sparks that she sent him he ignored completely. She really didn't need to stand on any court right now, especially not _disguised_ as a boy. That was just the icing on the cake her past would laugh about.

The 3rd-year raised a brow and barely looked at her, his eyes staying on her brother all the time. She had a bad feeling when he finally did turn to talk to her. An aggressive glint shone in his eyes and the auburn color of his hair didn't calm the look in any way.

He threw a racket at her, followed by a ball. "Here. I'll show you what you'll learn if you decide to join the tennis club. Oi, Kobayashi!" Her brother perked up. "Stand over there. Just wanna show him something good." He obeyed and leisurely stood on the service line in the exact middle of his side of the field, hands in his pockets.

The 3rd-year threw the ball high, reached back and smashed it to the other side. The ball hit one feet in front of her brother before bouncing off angrily, whizzing past his shoulder. Toshio didn't even flinch. The 3rd-year started all over, this time inching the ball closer to her brother. It brushed his hair as it bounced upwards again. A few younger members gathered to watch the one-sided exchange. The tension was tangible. On his third serve, he brushed the ear.

He didn't even think of stopping. Again he reached out. But before he knew it, something else shot past him. A shadow he barely saw. His ball scattered to the left, the angry bounce hitting another member square in the face, knocking him off his feet. A second yellow ball silently rolled off the court in the opposite direction his ball had went to. Toshio smirked at someone. He spun around.

Minori glared at him, the racket resting on her shoulder. "Just try to hit my brother even once," she growled. She shoved the racket back into his hands and left the courts with her brother as more club members trickled in. At the gates she turned around once more.

"If this is all Rikkaidai's tennis club has to offer, then it's pretty _lousy._"

* * *

_Hoho! Hello and welcome to this little story of mine. I recently reanimated my passion for PoT via reading the whole manga and quickly turned to my keyboard before the muse went away. I hope reading this brings you the same joy as me writing it. This is going to be the start of a wonderful adventure!_

_(Are six courts enough or too much on the school yard? I can't decide! After all it is the school's most treasured and encouraged sport.) Changed to **ten**. Not to confuse anybody. This change has been made with the release of the second chapter and a helpful review. Thanks again!  
_


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Prince of Tennis.**

* * *

The wind whipped her hair wildly as she turned around once more. She was fuming and barely noticed the people around her as she opened her mouth. All she wanted was to give him a taste of the feelings she held towards the threat he'd spoken out against Toshio one last time.

The words were loud and clear, coming directly from the depths of her throat. "If this is all Rikkaidai's tennis club has to offer, then it's pretty _lousy._" Minori stormed off and gave her brother a lingering look. How he'd manage to find an enemy on his first day at school was beyond her. Why it had to be a tennis player out of all people even more. Suddenly a hand gripped her firmly by the shoulder, rigidly forcing her to stop.

Green eyes bore into her gray pair. "Then I'll just have to give you a true taste of our club," a black-haired boy snarled. He already wore his glaring yellow tennis outfit and stared down at her. She cocked a brow at him.

"I don't believe there's anything worth to see," she shot back. A murmur went through the onlookers but she didn't care. Annoyance crossed his face and the green eyes twitched unnerved.

He raised his racket, drilling it into her chest with a little more pressure than needed. The slightest pinch of pain accompanied it. A threat. A _challenge._ "You scared? Or just have a big mouth?" Throwing her a cocky smile, he rested the racket on his shoulder like she'd done before and walked towards the court with his bag in the other hand.

Minori looked back over to her brother's smirking face and glared at him. He'd known the outcome ever since he ventured to the courts with her by his side. He was that cunning. It was a family trait, really, and the tiny special connection between the siblings from the past just made it all the more obvious.

Before she knew it, her feet carried her back onto the court, unable to turn down the challenge. "Care to share a racket?" She asked him, leaning on the net pole. _Icing on the cake_, she repeated. _To be the boy now. _Wordlessly he tossed her one of his own and she bowed curtly, pulling at one of the strings experimentally. "Smooth or Rough?"

"Smooth," he said and watched her twirl the racket. It landed on the front side. "Eh, lucky. I'll take the serve." He smiled and pulled a tennis ball out of his pocket, bouncing it on the ground.

She just got into position when the ball spun in the air and he smashed it powerfully. She couldn't even see the ball, the spin so fast her eyes couldn't keep up. Before she knew it, it hit her straight in the chest, knocking all air out of her lungs. _What...!_

"15-0," he hummed as she gasped for air. This guy was serious.

He took another ball and prepared for his next serve. Arrogant confidence surrounded each step he took. His knuckles squished the ball tightly until it bolted upward, not able to withstand the pressure. The racket connected with it immediately after. Minori raised her own but it was too late. Again the ball passed by her sight and hit her on the chest. She coughed and took a step back, protectively holding a hand over the hurt area. He was aiming towards it. With overwhelming accuracy.

"30-0," he announced again. She grit her teeth while she watched him prepare his next attack. The muscles in his arm barely constricted. He was just playing around with her. Minori licked over her lips and rolled her shoulders back. That would be his biggest mistake.

He won his serve game with ease, leaving a heavily breathing Minori holding her chest. She heard the other members snicker and whisper among themselves, the atmosphere clearly favoring the member instead of the new student. They didn't cheer for him, content with only showing mocking smiles.

Their eyes were glued to him. A long-buried fire flickered to life. She would make those eyes bulge out at her play. Respect her. Look at her quite sharply.

"Do you like Pinball?" She asked but didn't wait for an answer, catching the next ball thrown at her. She held the back of her hand up and smiled. With a flick of her wrist, the ball sprung to life and leaped into the sky. She held her racket high and rigid, eyes focused on the spinning ball.

When it was almost too low to hit, her eyes widened and she reached out.

The ball whizzed in a straight line across the net, pulsing with power and speed, and rammed into the white sideline. A yellow flash of the tennis club's uniform dashed towards it. _Too slow_, she thought to herself. A friction of a second later the ball bounced off heavily towards the fence, as if repulsed from the ground, never wavering in power.

The ball whirled in wild circles before the fence had sucked up all its energy. It fell in small leaps to her opponent's feet, who picked it up with interest. He hadn't been able to catch up to it. He stared at the racket in his hand. It had passed him just as he reached out.

Her voice snapped his attention back to her. "15-0," she said with a mischievous smile. "True taste, eh?" Whispering had grown into wild, surprised chatter. Nobody expected this. The serve that passed by one of their own – and the cockiness that followed. Heads snapped towards her, jumping back and forth between the players. Just what she intended.

She kept on hitting her Pinball Serves on the same spot. The third one he caught up to, knowing the timing when it met the ground instinctively with his body, and returned it, earning a point instantly. He was a fast learner. Definitely on a different level than Toshio's classmate.

She grinned and smashed the final serve into the furthest corner of the field, showing him that she could play with him just the same. Panic in her serve game was a rare sight. By his furrowed face, he'd noticed what had happened and it angered him all the more to have fallen for the trap so naively. Saying out loud "1-1," she knew that he would step up his game to a dangerous level. There was much more in him than he led to believe.

The sun shone brightly when a small cloud passed and cleared the sky. She allowed herself to glance sideways while she wiped off a pearl of sweat passing by her eye.

Toshio stared at something before turning to the field and giving her a sign to stop. She raised her brows in question.

She received the answer from somebody else. "Just what is going on here?!" Minori spun around to the source of the voice, momentarily forgetting the match.

"Akaya, _stop!"_ someone shouted.

_Thwack. _

Then she flew through the air.

The impact was hard and merciless. She had no time to react, her back crashing into the ground first, squeezing all air out of her lungs. The racket slipped out her hand. Black dots danced before her eyes and pain erupted in her head when it hit the floor moments after. Her vision blurred where she could see past the dots. Voices reached her ears, echoing from far away.

She gasped for breath as a strong hand pulled her up on her knees, holding her by the shoulders. Suddenly everything turned much darker, shadows blocking the light of the day. She held a hand over her eyes to stop the spinning of her vision.

Toshio's worried face came into focus when she slowly regained control of her senses. She gave him a crooked smile and he sighed in relief.

"Can you stand?" he asked.

"Yeah," she groaned. "Feels like I'm drunk," she added with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. Pain shot right through her body at the gesture, her head in flames. "Ow!" She winced and touched the back of her head. When she pulled her hand back, blood dyed it a dark crimson.

Toshio heaved her up and supported her waist. The pain was hellish. Her back ached, her face burned and she felt the blood trickle down her hair and clothes.

A small, worried round had gathered around them but most stayed behind the fences. A tall man with fierce eyes and a cap glared at the siblings as another boy with long, indigo hair came running towards them, bandages and towels in hand, which he handed to Toshio.

She was led to a bench to sit down as Toshio cleaned the blood off. She looked up at the two very different faces. One held his mouth tightly shut and his arms crossed, the knuckles white from restrained anger. The other looked at her with a gentle face that was void of any emotion apart from pure worry.

"Thanks," she said to latter, trying to reassure him that she was alright. Then she turned to the angry one, "and sorry," she ended sheepishly. The coach didn't look particulary merciful. It had to be their coach, right? So stern-looking. Not that a simple and curt sorry would free her from any sort of punishment. All he did was raise one brow. The other one gave her a warm smile.

The strong tug of bandages being tied together tightly freed her of the awkward silence. "That should do for now."

"Shouldn't you take him to the hospital?" The gentle one asked, his voice silky to the ear. If he didn't wear the male uniform, she might have mistaken him for a girl at first glance, the way his skin looked so soft and smooth.

"Home's closer and our mom is a nurse anyway. We'll take him to the hospital afterward, if needed." Minori eyed her brother. It was scary how he didn't stutter in his sentence once. She couldn't adjust to being called a 'he' after one day only.

When they were about to leave she noticed the red stain on the tennis court. She stopped, reeled in by the sight. The racket was still on the ground and she searched for a familiar face. She found him leaning against the fence on his side of the field, watching the scene from afar. _Respect._ His eyes found hers and she gave him a thumbs up without thinking. _You earned it.  
_

"It's not so lousy after all," she grinned.

* * *

The bell rung for break and chairs scraped across the floor, conversations picking up where they'd left off. The teacher shouted over the growing noise. "Don't forget to read the pages and summarize them. Kobayashi-kun, you come over here." He pointed a finger at her. Minori nodded and let go of her bag, giving Chiaki an apologizing shrug. She'd invited her to eat lunch with her friends in the cafeteria to get to know them all a little better. That would have to wait.

Minori wound her way to the teacher's desk. He waited for the bulk of the students to leave before addressing her. He was a tall, muscled man, looking too large for his chair; both their Japanese and P.E. teacher. _What a combination, _she'd thought with a curse. Her worst and best subject.

The teacher pointed at her battered form. "Does it hurt a lot?"

She shook her bandaged head. "I took a painkiller this morning. I'm good."

He nodded slightly but his eyes stayed hard. Then he sighed. "Look, I know it may be different in the States but here in Japan, we're a little stricter about appearances. The uniform you wear represents the school and if you show up like that it doesn't put a good light on the school. Do you understand that?" She bit her lip in guilt. "How did you even manage to get into a fight on your first day of school?"

She looked up surprised. "I didn't get into a fight. I played tennis," she said soberly.

He eyed her mistrustful. "Your head is bandaged, you've got a big bruise beneath that patch on your face and I'm sure there are more injuries on the rest of your body," he countered nonchalantly.

"But it's true," she said weakly. She pointed at her cheek. "That was the ball," she pointed at her head, "and that was the ground."

"I can understand that you want to deny the situation but it's blatantly obvious. I heard the class talk about you. I won't ask whom you fought with but you better let it be." She stared at him with a gaping mouth. Why, that was wrong on so many levels!

"I think you–"

"He played a match against me," somebody interrupted her mid-sentence. She turned to see the familiar green eyes and black, curly hair standing at the back of the of the classroom. "You can ask any member of the tennis club. They were watching."

"Were you eavesdropping, Kirihara-kun?" The teacher raised his brows.

Said student shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't care at all. "Just forgot something in the class, that's all." Obviously a lie but he didn't bother hiding that fact. He waited, looking between the teacher and her. Impatient. "Are you finished? It's break, sensei."

Their teacher blinked, perplexed at the stubborn and cheeky behavior but gave in for now. "Yes. I said all I had to say." He nodded back at her with a meaningful look. She gave him a slow nod in response. She wasn't quite off the hook. What a grand start.

Both students left the room and walked down the hallway in silence. Students talked in small pairs or rushed through the halls to the yard or cafeteria. As they went past a few, they started whispering amongst themselves. She could clearly hear her name and quickly guessed the rest. Minori dragged her hand across her face. She had the feeling that this would spread. _Fast. _

She followed him until they reached a soft-drink machine on the lowest floor. There was nothing else to do but follow him like a lost puppy and watch him buy a coke. Even with the small tour she'd received through the school from her classmates, she didn't remember where the cafeteria was from here on. He held the coke in her face.

"Want one?"

She cocked her head quizzically but accepted it nonetheless. "Thanks." He bought another one for himself and both opened their cans with a satisfying hissing sound. As she drunk, he mustered her patched up face with delicate reluctance.

"Yukimura-buchou said to apologize to you. New student 'n all."

She almost spew the drink into his face, the laughter bubbling up so suddenly. It resulted in a heavy, choking cough and he patted her hard on the back, bewildered and uncomfortable with the situation and the weird foreigner.

"So you buy me a drink?" The apology that literally flows right past your heart and into your tummy. He was pure genius!

He scoffed. "It's not like _I _did anything wrong! But he forced me to." He took a sip from his own beverage.

"I'm not at fault either," she said, shrugging her shoulders. He glared at her, unbelieving at the ungrateful and shameless statement. "What? That third-year started it. I just reacted." She paused. "Did he get punished by your captain, too?"

A menacing smile tugged at his lips. "He's apologizing to your brother. Ran 30 more laps with me and wasn't allowed to play any match during training." She felt little remorse.

They strolled the corridors again, a short silence settling in. He was much calmer than the day before. Maybe he felt bad about what had happened. The way he leisurely tugged away one hand in his pocket, the eyes set forward as if she wasn't there, though, drew another picture. He simply wanted to get it over with. "You're in my class then, right?" She broke the silence. "Sorry that I didn't recognize you yesterday. I'm Kobayashi Minori." She stretched her hand out towards him.

"I know who _you _are already, transfer student." He rolled his eyes but shook her hand nonetheless. "Kirihara Akaya. I sit one row behind you."

She grinned at him just like she'd done after their match. She'd met someone very interesting.

* * *

_There we go, second chapter up and running. Two days of school are over - and we've got two more days to cover before our Minori plans to reveal her true gender! __We cannot have that, can we?  
_

_Changed the court number to ten in the previous chapter as six was too 'average' for Rikkaidai's tennis in the end. Thanks for the notion!  
_


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Prince of Tennis.**

* * *

The sky was cloudy, a blend of gray and a dark blue. Her eyes almost fell close once while listening to the quiet drumming of the rain when it raced across the glassy surface.

English class was a bother to someone who spoke it fluently and she quickly found herself bored and searching for distraction. The only thing she'd managed to do was secretly whispering the answers to Chiaki or a few other classmates close to her. When she'd been found out by the teacher, she gave in to staring outside over the yard as the last minutes dripped by.

When the bell finally rang, she couldn't suppress a relieved sigh. Minori stretched her limbs one by one, enjoying how life returned to each one of them. Her shoulders creaked when she rolled them, shrugging off the sleepiness off the first class in the morning.

"You rascal!" Hands rammed onto her table and she jumped with fright, unintelligible curses in different languages escaping her mouth like a waterfall. A boy stood in front of her, his hair dark with a purple tint to it and eyed her wildly. He'd literally jumped from his seat in the front rows to hers before the others had even started getting up. Just what steroids had he swallowed with his breakfast? She cocked her head in question at him.

His finger shot right up to her face, inches away from the bridge of her nose. "Yes, you! What's with that awesome play I heard of?" He clenched one of his hands to a trembling fist. "I'm _so _mad I missed it!"

She blinked a few times, dazzled by his dramatic behavior, before she shrugged her shoulders. "It was nothing," she mumbled.

He wouldn't have that and turned his attention over her head, to someone behind. "Nee, Akaya-kun. Is it true that he almost beat you 6-0?"

She could feel a glare pierce her back as he snorted his response. "I crushed him with my serve game in _seconds._" She looked at him and shrugged her shoulders helplessly. When they'd turned their back on the rumors, they had spread like a wildfire across the school, catching the attention of every student. And they grew in uncontrollable ways she'd never expected. Like a game of telephone, the passed on information got deformed and exaggerated further with each person playing it.

Whispers followed her in the corridors but the only people curious and daring enough to ask her about it were the few people she hung out with during break time. Mainly the polite Chiaki, who wondered how one could end up with the angry Kirihara Akaya on their first day. Minori would have been more curious about the new student itself that caused such a ruckus, instead of just talking behind his back about things that _really didn't happen that way!_ Poor guy's - her! - reputation.

"We didn't even play a whole game," she added, hoping that the misunderstanding would soon clear. She didn't need the massive attention any longer. It made her nervous because it was not _her _they were talking about. It was _him_, the male Minori that never existed. She crossed her fingers that all would end well.

"Where did you even get that kinda information from?" Akaya asked him with a raised brow. He rocked his chair to a dangerous degree with one leg propped up on the table. The class had scattered into small groups across the room, filling the short break between the classes with tired chattering.

"The first years said so." He received the next glare in her stead and winced. "The senpai-tachi were training and the other didn't want to talk about it," he muttered, his eyes cast away with pursed lips.

Minori turned her stool to fully face the curly haired boy, grinning from ear-to-ear. "Sooo," she drawled and looked into the pair of green eyes, "you're not allowed to talk about a _tennis match _in your _tennis club?_" One of his eyes twitched. _Gotcha._ Suddenly the sparsely asked questions made sense and she continued her teasing. "I wondered why nobody-"

"Kobayashi-san?" somebody interrupted. Her head snapped towards the new voice. She was mildly surprised to see another one of the tennis club's member standing in the door frame to her class. The air shifted as the others noticed his arrival, staring at him with surprise, some bordering on shock and redness coloring the cheeks of the girls. All attention was on them - _again._

She pointed at herself stupidly. "The Minori or Toshio one?" Her brother told her that he'd been mistaken for her a few times on the corridors. Apparently some of the rumors fit along better with a tall, strong man crushing their club under his feet instead of a tiny-sized fragile student.

The blue-haired boy smiled warmly as if he knew why she hesitated. "Kobayashi Minori."

* * *

The chopsticks absentmindedly found their way inside her mouth, filling her cheeks with seasoned rice and meat. The taste passed by her as she chewed, her mind focused not on the food but on the conversation that she'd held earlier that day. A heavy sigh escaped her lips. She shouldn't even be thinking about it yet she found herself going through the conversation time after time. With P.E. off again due to her injuries, she'd watched the class jog through the gym and sweating themselves off. She'd run her own circles inside her mind, feeling similarly exhausted as the rest of her class.

There had to be an end to it.

"What's with the heavy sighing again?" Her mother asked eventually, neatly placing her chopsticks on her plate. "Did something happen at school?" She looked back and forth between her two children before she decided to take her chances with the older one. Minori didn't respond to any of her approaches, unsure how to phrase her dilemma when she couldn't grasp it completely on her own. "Toshio."

He chewed slowly, then swallowed the bite. "We've got some major problems now, captain." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry for the loss of your daughter."

She lowered her head at him and raised a brow. "What's that supposed to mean, officer?"

The pause didn't last long but Minori couldn't help watching his every move as he mustered her, his eyes shutting his thoughts away. Ever since they'd went to the tennis courts, she'd had the feeling that he'd formed motives on his own. It wasn't difficult to guess why. They shared a past together. When she'd told him about the offer on their way back home, he'd looked content.

"Tennis," he simply stated, giving her a long look. The two of them were close. She couldn't deny that she'd already come up with reasons for his thoughtfulness, knowing how his childish, witty mind worked. With that one word she found them all confirmed. A tiny bit hated him for that. Another found it endearing. The third was lost to her confusing feelings.

Minori still didn't know where to start and sighed again, placing her fingers on her templates this time. It was her turn to explain further. "Someone asked me a favor," she said slowly, tasting the words on her tongue before actually saying them. "For the boys' tennis team," she added in clarification.

Her mother cocked her head to the side. "Tell them you're a girl and deny the offer," she said bluntly and ruffled Minori's hair fondly. "We only joked around. Once they've recovered their crushed pride, everything is going to be fine again and no one will be mad at you." She knew what had occurred the first day after school. Sneaking past her with such wounds was impossible, not that they had intended to.

Minori's mouth opened and closed, unsure how to phrase it. She didn't want to take it as serious as she did, wanted to see the situation with the same ease as the rest of her family but somehow she couldn't any longer. It was unique and a one-time-only chance to have some fun and she'd given in to that. It wouldn't harm anybody but her own image in the worst case. It _had_ been fun to act the laid-back boy. But she couldn't stop the guilt from forming now. If she'd only never played that one damn match. "There's a sick boy on the team and he wants me to take his position if something happens to him," she blurted out, remembering her conversation with said blue-haired boy.

"Nononono," Toshio chimed back in, chopsticks pointing at her. "He's the sick _captain _of the team. Important little details, imouto."

She put him off. "I won't be captain. A regular at best, if I prove myself. I have great potential, he said, and that he'd be happy if I helped him just in case."

Mom took a longer time to respond. "You've made quite the impression," she drawled. "You feeling guilty now, I guess?" Minori nodded. If he'd only been any normal captain, she would've confessed right on the spot, telling him her reasons for refusal. The sudden trust he'd placed into her, though, telling her something grave that even his friends didn't know of... it gnawed on her mind and she just couldn't crush it heartlessly due to a _prank _of all things.

It was flattering to hear somebody compliment her play. It had been a long time since she'd actively played the sport and to see that her skills hadn't rusted yet was relieving. The offer would have been tempting if it weren't the wrong person they were asking. That's what made her sad. If she'd been a girl from the start, he would have never talked to her.

Her mother shrugged her shoulders, picked her chopsticks up and continued eating her food. Her eyes were clear and serious. "If _that's_ the only problem, then repent by staying a boy."

She gaped at her mother, completely taken aback. Even Toshio looked surprised at the easy-going attitude she showed about the situation, choking on his food. "Easy for you to say. Because of _you _I'm in this situation at all!"

Her mom continued calmly. "I didn't think something like this would happen. And you could have denied." She shoot her brother a glance, who shook his head wildly, still coughing. Their mother was the biggest mule in the family and would get _everything_ she wished for in the end. Denial was out of the question. "If you're worrying so much already, it means you've considered it yourself. You're not cruel." Her gray eyes bore into hers. Confidence and sincerity accompanied her words, which annoyed Minori all the more. She was serious. "I'm only giving you a push in the right direction."

"Telling your _daughter_ to live a _lie _is not the right direction!" She tried to defend her position again. It couldn't work out - all lies eventually came to light.

"If it's for a good cause and a pure heart, then it may as well be," she hummed through chewing, as if reciting something. "It's pretty cowardly to back down now because of a _prank_." Stabbing right into her heart, that cruel French witch! How did she do that each and every time?!

Minori stood up abruptly. "If I don't listen to you, you can't confuse me!" Then she stomped the stairs up to her room, escaping the crazy ideas her mother tried to plant.

All she'd wanted _was _a push in the right direction but not in this one. She'd wished for them to tell her that it was okay to tell him off. To deny his egoistic but trusting favor. Her words now crippled her further and instead of moving in circles any longer, all she did was stand still. Tomorrow it would all be over anyway, no matter what she wished for in the end.

* * *

_Great. _

Minori sat on the stool in the infirmary awkwardly, fidgeting with the ends of her shirts. The school's nurse had her back turned to her, wrapping up a report of sorts. She cursed inwardly. This wasn't exactly the best of all days to get her period.

Maybe her worry and annoyance stemmed from this but she wasn't one to fool herself. Her mother knew her and knew exactly which spots to press. _Should have been a psychologist, _she thought and rolled her eyes.

Minori hadn't intended to continue the facade; too much could go wrong in the scenario her mother offered. A tiny daring bit of her thought it possible but logical arguments stood against it like an impenetrable wall. She didn't even have specific reasons to hide her gender. It wasn't like her life depended on it. Every careless second could be the end to a disguise. And the end to many friendships. She hadn't slept well that night.

She'd finally mustered up the courage to go and tell the captain about her situation, telling him that it was the school's mistake and that she didn't know how to handle it. But she didn't even get the chance to put her plans into motion, her body betraying her in a crucial time. The day that would end this nonsense turned against her. She'd constructed all the excuses _against _the disguise on the knowledge that she couldn't avoid swimming. Instead of showing up to swim class like a girl, though, she sat in the infirmary in her usual boy uniform.

_Great__, _she thought again.

The nurse turned around with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry I let you wait. What's the problem?"

Minori took a deep breath. She knew how this would look and expected a harsh punishment following the reveal. The school worried greatly about its image as she'd experienced already. "I have my period and cramps," she quickly said, not able to look into the eyes of the woman opposite her.

There was a short silence before the nurse chuckled. "That's a fine prank but it won't let you off class. I must confess that I never heard that excuse before."

Minori blushed a deep red and unbuttoned her shirt with shaky fingers. The chuckles calmed down and turned into furrowed brows when the nurse stared at the bandages covering her chest area. "Do you believe me now or should I take off my pants, too?" The situation was embarrassing. Not because she stood half naked in front of a stranger but because she realized how childish the prank in itself was, by confessing it.

The nurse raised a finger and shook it. "You're one of the new transfer students, I guess?" Minori nodded and she walked to a shelf filled with folders. It wasn't difficult to guess with her thick, western hair even if it was cut short. Apart from shelves and desks, a few beds filled the space, rowed next to each other. Curtains offered a sense of privacy but since no one used the beds currently, they were open.

She buttoned her shirt back up and watched the nurse skim through a dark red folder. She had the silky hair common to Asians pulled up in a bun and wore a white doctor's coat. Her face was small and young.

Her ears perked up when she started to speak. "You do look like... Minori," she finished lamely, rolling the name off her tongue with each syllable distinctly. She counted one and one together with ease, judging by the way her eyes glinted with amusement.

Instead of calling for the principal, of reprimanding her, of staring at her in shock, though, the woman lost herself in thoughts and stayed quiet for minutes. Minori grew nervous, unsure what this meant. It was the first time it came to her mind that she might get thrown out of school for this. It would be solved nice and clean, without causing a stir or a blow to the school's image.

"What class do you have right now?" she asked suddenly.

"Swimming," Minori answered with a beating heart. It was the first class she had on Fridays.

She walked through the room and plopped back in her chair, never leaving the documents out of sight. Her delicate fingers wandered to her mouth, tapping at her lips lightly. She was clearly deciding on what to do - but why did she take so long?

It was then she looked back to the nervous student sitting in the infirmary. Minori gulped. A wicked smile spread across the face of the nurse as she snapped the folder shut.

"Aquaphobia."

* * *

_Hope you had a merry Christmas and a great new year! To start the year off, you get a new chapter to read! The one where Minori loses to higher powers.  
_

_As you've maybe guessed by now, this takes places shortly before the prefecturals. Yukimura is (soon) ill with a similar disease as the Guillain-Barré Syndrome. He notices that something is not right and that he feels weaker, so he takes precautions. Even if it is via trusting in a complete stranger. Sometimes you gotta go with a hunch.  
_

_Before I let you off fully: A small shout-out to the anonymous reviewer **Yuu** who is seriously cute, impatiently waiting for the next update. There's always gonna be something new! ;)  
_


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Prince of Tennis.**

* * *

_"I - you - what?" she stuttered, her mind blank. This couldn't be happening.  
_

_"You heard me. Kobayashi-**kun** is afraid of water." She emphasized the suffix to clear all misunderstandings. The smile never wavered._

Minori stood with her arms crossed, watching the students scuttle around in preparation. She didn't know which feeling was superior: anger, relief, excitement or sheer ridiculousness. They all blended together into an irritable cocktail that changed it's color in a matter of seconds, depending on which memory her mind picked up.

Why did she agree to this again? _Right, I remember now, _she mused as she saw the familiar gentle face with blue hair. A yellow jacket was draped across his shoulders, swaying behind him with every step he took towards the courts. Her eyes bore into his back, still deciding whom she should actually blame for her situation.

As if he'd felt her gaze, he turned around. A smile tugged at his face and he gave her a small wave. She didn't return it. Anger was after all an important ingredient to her emotional cocktail. Blame it on her period that she felt this cranky.

She stopped in front of him, her arms crossed still. His gentle smile never wavered, despite her distant behavior and glaring eyes. "You decided to join then?"

There was so much she wanted to tell him as she studied his face. She wished to push him, punch him, do anything to convey and vent her feelings on that beautiful visage of his. If he hadn't been watching at that time, she wouldn't stand here. If that ridiculous nurse hadn't played along, she wouldn't stand here with these_ intentions_. If the stupid school hadn't mistaken her as a boy in the first place, she wouldn't have stopped going to swimming classes and would wear a skirt with long hair growing out again!

It was at the same time unnerving and exciting to happen. To know that the boy in front of her only saw another fellow male student and didn't suspect a thing. Minori rolled her eyes mentally. He looked feminine himself, so who was he to suspect anybody?

"You owe me big, Yukimura." She sighed. One sentence was all she'd gotten out of her mouth after all the mood swings and preparations she'd gone through the weekend. His expression faltered, losing its friendly shimmer momentarily as if he guessed that there was more behind the sentence. _You don't even know what you're taking away from me. _

She released her arms from the crossed position they had been in and let go of all the tension her body had been holding in. "So, how do I join?"

He gathered himself back immediately, the composure of a captain replacing the friendliness from before. "Since you're a second-year and not unfamiliar with the sport, it would be best to challenge you differently." He looked over her once. "You don't have a racket?"

Minori shook her head. "I'll just take Akaya's again. Worked fine last time." An owlish smile accompanied her words when she remembered. "Speak of the devil..." Akaya just strolled out of the changing rooms, bearing the glaring colors of the tennis uniform, and froze immediately on the spot when he saw the two of them.

"What the hell are _you _doing here?" His eyes jumped from her to Yukimura beside her. "He's not joining the club!" He desperately demanded. She half expected him to cross his arms in defiance like a little child.

"He obviously has talent." His jaw fell open. Minori continued with her owlish smile to tease him further. Gotta make the best out of the gender-screqed up situation, no? Others watched their exchange warily. The black-haired boy's cry had drawn the attention of more than a few people. "Maybe we'll have two second-year aces in the future?" Yukimura himself apparently knew exactly which spots to press on him too. The jaw shut close immediately, so tight his whole face trembled.

"I wanted to ask for your racket again-" she started politely.

"Definitely not_._"

She raised her brows at the fierce glare he threw at her. "Come on. We get along well in class."

"Class is class. Tennis is war." She rolled her eyes. It's not that they'd turned best friends after his apology but it felt as though he'd accepted the incident and come to terms with it. They were in the same boat rumor-wise after all. To get out they had to paddle in the same direction.

Then again, he'd forbidden his tennis members to ever speak about the match again. And she did like to tease him about that fact ever since she found out.

"Please lend it to your classmate, would you, Akaya?" Yukimura kindly asked. "But you'll have to get one yourself soon, Minori-kun."

With a grumble he threw his bag at her, which she barely caught without being swept from her feet. His attitude was completely different. He acted indifferent about her in class but now it looked as if he had to restrain his anger from taking over. She glanced at Yukimura. Maybe he had something to do with it. The captain was respected to no ends as far as she'd gathered. His word was to be obeyed.

She fumbled through the rackets he owned until she found the one she'd had last time. It was the most familiar to her own tastes. The bag was quickly torn from her hands then and she watched her classmate stomp away. They'd be good friends, she just knew.

Yukimura placed a hand on her back and gently led her to one of the fields where another very familiar face waited in store for her.

"I'm so excited! Are you? Ooooh, this will be so much fun!" He waved at her excitedly. The energetic, steroid bundle again. She'd nearly forgotten that he was a member, too.

"Hey there, Ryo." She returned the wave with an awkward smile before giving the 3rd-year captain a puzzling look, placing her empty hand in her pocket.

"I have raised the stakes of you joining the club. I don't need somebody who's weak and ends up doing first-year work." The air around him suddenly took a turn to the dark. A shudder inadvertedly raced down her spine. "You will play against all non-regular members of the club." Her brows shot up. This was more than just a _challenge_. It was actually pretty harsh as an invitation even if she'd been practicing the sport. Just what was he thinking, asking her for a favor, then giving her such a wall to conquer?

"If anybody get's two whole games from you, you drop out." This guy. She let out a shaky breath but couldn't bite back a return.

"Why two? Feeling nice today?"

He smiled but it only deepened the darkness around him. So unforgiving. "Exactly."

Devil in disguise.

* * *

"6-0. Game set by Kobayashi." It was over in a matter of minutes and the attention of the whole team was on him. Yanagi Renji squeezed his eyes as he took in the form of the soon-to-be member. He had no doubt that he would make it into the team and challenge the regulars soon, otherwise Yukimura wouldn't have bothered asking him to join in person. Although he expected there to be more to it than the captain let on, Yukimura himself wouldn't tell him any more than that the boy had much talent lingering inside him. He couldn't allow it to be wasted.

"That guy's such a chibi compared to his brother," Marui next to him muttered, holding his hand horizontally. Him and Niou were classmates of the elder brother.

"Approximately 160cm tall and therefore even smaller than you," he replied back, only momentarily taking his eyes off the court. The red-haired boy popped a green bubble with a content smile. Somebody was finally smaller than him – apart from the first-years.

His looks were distinct due to his foreign blood but still unbelievably fragile-looking. Their captain held the same sort of femininity to him but this boy took it up another notch with his looks and grace, if he were to put a name on it. Kobayashi Minori had a distinct, different feel around him that he'd never felt from any other boy on the team. The way he held himself when he stepped onto a court contradicted with the merry look in his eyes. If he hadn't heard directly from their captain that he'd stopped playing tennis, he would have been curious about that look. Although his opponents were no match to him, he enjoyed every single minute of play.

It left him curious as to why he'd stopped playing the sport he so obviously loved, though. It would take some more research to find out.

The school uniform clung to his body as he wiped the sweat from his face. He lacked stamina. They would have to work on that. When the defeated left the field, he rolled his shoulders with a grim grin. "Next!" Determination flickered across his eyes. Excitement.

He would have written him off as another Akaya, if it weren't for that calculating behavior. _Grace. _That word flashed through his mind again and he shook his head. It was fitting as it was unfitting because he would have rarely thought of such a gentle word to describe the way he smashed his serve into the ground. Those "Pinball Serves" of his definitely fit the game they were named after. The ball held the same uncontrollable spin to it after smashing into the ground just like the ball in the machine after hitting a bumper.

Renji smiled. Looks could very well be deceiving.

* * *

**One week later.**_  
_

* * *

"I need to go to the toilets-" before she could even finish her sentence, he threw his hands up in annoyance.

"_Again? _No way! I'm not gonna come late today, too!" Akaya gave her an incredulous look. When she started to open her mouth in protest, he simply continued his rant. "Stop drinking a whole bottle of water before last period!"

She smiled sheepishly at him. "I have to keep hydrated if I want to do sports," she mumbled. She didn't dare look him into the eyes, although that seemed to add in to the act. But it was all she could do for him not to see the suspicious grin on her lips.

"Someday you'll explode." He made a poof move with his hands and walked off, completely ignoring her protests.

"Traitor!" she called out after him when he took a turn and jogged down the stairs. She instead immediately went to the toilets. There was one other boy in the closet by the pissoirs whom she tried to completely ignore, head high to not look down. She dramatically rushed into one of the cabins and started changing, emitting curses at the tennis team just loud enough for the boy to hear. When she heard him wash his hands and soon after, the closing of a door, she slumped down onto the toilet and allowed the bottled up laughter to escape.

To think that she was actually doing this. She couldn't believe that this was reality and _working. _It felt so surreal at times that she couldn't stop the grin from forming on the joke that only she knew. If only Akaya and the captains knew that her tardiness was a simple, yet ingenious plan to keep her secret hidden and not an actual masochist trait of hers to keep getting punishment rounds around the courts or to pick up the balls.

If she kept up with it long enough – while at the same time playing good enough for the Three Monsters not to even consider throwing her out for these tardy reasons – they would eventually come to terms with it. Hopefully. If Marui was allowed to chew that gum of his and eat cakes between matches then they could cope with the goofy, hurried mess she was every time she arrived on the courts, even though it was a sign of bad sportsmanship and reliability.

With shaky hands from laughing, she tied her laces tightly and picked up her bag, wiping a tear away that had escaped in all her happiness.

She'd drink that whole bottle of water before last period _every single day_.

Racing through the school and onto the courts, she already expected the disgruntled look on Sanada's face and put on a mask of guilt. Her hair was disheveled from running and the hurried changing but he didn't give her a moment's rest. "Start warm-up and add another 15 rounds for coming late to practice again," he bellowed. She didn't even stop in her step and sprinted into the mass of yellow and black-colored students already running.

Minori quickly spotted Ryo in the mass who held two fingers up. She cursed at the mere minutes she'd come late when they'd only run two rounds by now. Nevertheless, the next 15 ones were reserved for her alone to struggle through and for others to laugh at.

While her treatment ranged from indifference to friendliness, the team had agreed in one aspect regarding her: her punishment was open joy to everyone. She guessed that they got some sort of compensation after losing to her. It could have easily ended differently, with her dropping out. Swinging the racket in the last matches became a fight fueled by willpower alone. Apparently she was the only one to remember that, though, because it was only her thinking of the consequences if that scenario became reality. She wouldn't join the club and she would reveal her gender, embarassing the ill Yukimura.

It was a saddening thought that had somehow fueled her last energy reserves. In the end she did join - and never had she felt any more sweaty and gross than on that day.

"Baby brother~," a voice called out and a hand patted her on the shoulder. Not that the nickname hadn't given away the silver-haired boy who smiled down at her as he jogged next to her. "I heard from a reliable source that you're _finally _buying a racket."

She snickered. Akaya really grew tired of lending her his rackets. "Pretty reliable. Maybe I am. Maybe I'll just do it tomorrow after all." Sadly her classmate wasn't anywhere near them to fume. He was so much fun to tease about all sorts of topics. Yet she couldn't postpone getting one for much longer now. If she wanted to play on par with the rest of the team, the regulars if she managed, then she had to get herself one.

Niou clicked his tongue. "Don't fight with baby Akaya. He'll ground you again." She rolled her eyes at the memory of her first day. He could injure people _amazingly_ well.

"I actually wanted to offer helping baby brother choose one," Niou continued as his rat-tail bounced up and down with his body's movement.

"I'm the same age as you, you know?" The Kobayashi siblings had to repeat a year because of their not-so-fluent Japanese. Toshio should have been a high school student already. She might have taken his place and ended up in the silver-haired boy's class.

They rounded the fence. "Toshio is your big brother. You are the baby brother. End to the story." The innocent smile further accentuated that he would never stop calling her that. "Oh, and you're still a 2nd-year." The argument about age would never sit with him, as well.

"Fine, why not, _onii-san?_" She tried her sweetest voice, which made him cringe.

They rounded the fence again and she briefly wondered whether she'd shut him up completely. When he strode to the side, though, her mood dropped a few levels.

He waved at her retreating form, mock-simpathy plastered all over his face. "Sadly, we'll have to talk later." Chuckles followed him as more people stopped their warm-up jogging and waved after her all the same. Her eyes twitched as she watched the dirt her feet stirred up all alone.

This team better be worth 15 rounds extra for drinking that bottle every single day.

* * *

_Sorry for the long wait and the sadly not so long chapter! The chapter was an important one for the future of the story and didn't come down quite as fast or well as I wanted. It may be revised a little here and there but I'm too tired right now. Also, as you may have noticed already by the changes in the character tags, Niou has tricked his ways into the front rows. Not gonna say anything more about him now._

_I am curious about your guesses, though, and it is time to ask: Who do you think will find out first about Minori's gender? And if you feel especially creative - how? I have it already planned out but ever since chapter 1 I wondered what others would think of in this stage of the story. Thanks for all the reviews so far, it makes me really happy!_


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Prince of Tennis.**

* * *

After training, she stayed longer to help the first-years gather the balls. It helped avert the glare from Sanada, who saw her act as a sign of repentance. The main reason was that she wanted to avoid the biggest bulk of teenagers in the changing rooms but the side-effect was still beneficial.

When the elder students hurried home and the younger ones trickled into the changing rooms, she took the time to stretch her tired body, counting each second she gained from being away from the boys. The less shy first-years waved to her to come over but she denied politely and strolled to the patiently waiting silver-haired boy by the fence.

Minori leaned on her side of the fence and glanced at Niou, who pulled his headphones out. "You're actually serious?" She asked him, genuine surprise laced into the question.

He raised a brow. "You're actually deaf?" He mimicked her. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes like she often did with him and instead chose to shrug her shoulders.

"Just wondering why the trickster of the team would offer such hospitality," she eyed him warily. "Not to be rude – I don't know you well – but I suspect a trap." Him being in Toshio's class and the reports she'd heard while they ate dinner at home supported her mistrust in the boy. What she'd gathered from the team was that he was a superb actor, able to disguise his play and copy that of others almost flawlessly. There was little place for benevolent friendliness.

A smug grin played along his lips and a sound she couldn't place escaped his mouth. A purred 'puri' of some sorts. "Bakaya talks too much."

She heaved herself off the fence and walked into the changing rooms when she saw the last ones leave. As long as Niou didn't walk in on her, she was safe. By the way he stood, headphones back in place, he wouldn't move an inch. She tried to copy his carefree stance and placed her hands into the pockets of her shorts. Whenever she was zoned-out it didn't mean that she was shy as some of the girls in class concluded but that she concentrated hard on every move she made to look correct.

It wasn't difficult to change after she'd learned to button up her shirt in record time. But the bandages caught too much attention, would arouse suspicion. When her school's uniform was on, she visibly relaxed. She had to think of a way to cover up the bandages. While she didn't mind the punishment of coming late to training, avoiding changing afterward proved to be difficult already.

But it was still a hell of fun.

She shouldered her bag and went outside. Niou moved from his spot only once she walked past him. They were one of the last – if not _the _last – students leaving the school at this hour and the bus stop nearby was empty for once.

They squeezed their way inside once the bus halted with steaming sounds next to them. Niou's tennis bag was the biggest hindrance and annoyance to the sitting people, who would mutter it out loud once or twice. He didn't seem to mind. She glanced at the dark blue bag and grimaced.

"Are these pricey?" She pointed at the bag leaning on his legs.

"Quality costs, baby brother."

Minori groaned. "Mom's gonna kill me." She leaned on the window with a small thud. Her mind flashed with numbers and zeros that burned through her allowance. A hand hovered horizontally just above her forehead and she eyed it with a frown, blinking the numbers away.

Niou had placed his other hand on his chin, like a critic eying a painting. "Just wondering how _tiny _you are. All the good genes gone to your brother?" He looked genuinely intrigued by the thought. Now she rolled her eyes and brushed his hand away from her face.

"Don't be such a Marui. He always walks straighter when he sees me." Which was not a rarity, considering their new occupation as her big brothers. Both were in Toshio's class, who'd started the whole thing involuntarily. At least he said so. She knew he had the fun of his life listening to the annoyances they placed her under every day for the past week. It wasn't like she forgot her lunch box on purpose and Marui had popped out of thin air in her class to deliver it to her, shooting nearby girls with cupid's arrow. There was definitely a blood-related accomplice to that.

He clicked his tongue. "A man's gotta take what he can get."

The bus halted to a screeching stop at their destination which made Niou stagger dangerously close in her direction before regaining his composure. She shook her head. She had to stop noticing such little details. A random bump wouldn't reveal anything. Her flinching behavior would, though.

They jumped off and Niou shouldered his tennis bag back over his school bag. She briefly wondered how wrecked his notebooks would look with such treatment, before she picked off their interrupted conversation. "So, what do you take as a man?"

"Hmm," he paused briefly, eyes mischievously smiling into people's backs. "_Every_ girl's heart. It's so troublesome! They just swoon over me whenever they see me." Mock desperation dripped off his words. Warning: huge ego beaming right next to her.

She snorted. "As soon as Yukimura enters the field, they'll drop you like a wet bag of rice."

He looked down on her with raised brows. "At least you're not suggesting they'd be turning away from me because of _you. _Now _that _would have been provocative. Yukimura-buchou? Not so much." He patted her on the head like a little child being chided.

She took the bait and challenge immediately, not quite realizing how he manipulated the topic to where he wanted it to be. "I've got the transfer student charms, you know? And I play tennis, which is obviously a requirement." Most handsome guys the girls talked about were in the tennis team or, to be more specific, the regulars of said team. Rarely did any other names fall and she'd had all their names memorized as quickly as breathing came to her. Especially the names of 'Niou-sama' or 'Yukimura-kuuuun'.

Niou grinned smugly now, eying her with pity. "Girls want tall and strong guys," his hand showed off himself, "not some cute, polite foreigner with aquaphobia. Where's the _'oh, I feel so secure in his arms' _in that?" He indulged in hugging himself tightly, which earned quite a few stares from the neat business men passing them. She had to punch him hard in his arm to stop him from making out with himself.

"Oi! Don't look down on people with fears! I can't help it," she huffed. The act was real enough. She couldn't help it that the nurse had decided to play along in the gender-bender taking place right now. _'I won't pass on such a chance'_ my ass! Next time she landed in the infirmary she didn't know whether she should slap or thank the woman. But it was fun. That much was certain. Difficult, mostly with tennis, but definitely sheer fun.

He poked her forehead. "You'll never go to the beach with your girl. The beach!" She pouted and sent him a glare. He flicked his fingers at her forehead and she winced, rubbing the spot. He smiled widely, the mole over his lip dancing to the side. "Too cute. I couldn't resist." She squeezed her eyes into slits. He was in a pretty good mood and jumped from one topic back to the other.

He pointed with his thumb to his right before she could retort. Without her knowing they'd come by the store and almost missed it. They jogged up some stairs and pushed the door open.

The sounds of the outside world quieted when they entered and the smell of synthetics filled the air. The store was packed, mostly with boys their age and little older bustling about, discussing over magazines about the latest event or product. The assistants hurried all over the place, asking their customers whether they could be of service without running into one of the shelves or baskets filled with balls, bags and rackets. It looked like a supermarket filled with exquisite tennis material.

Niou placed his hand on her shoulder, snapping her back to reality. "Off we go." She nodded dumbly. Maybe it was better that she'd accepted his professional help. He wouldn't impose a bad racket on her purposely... or would he?

They spent a good hour inside the store, running down the long row of rackets hanging off the wall, weighing, swinging, feeling them. One slipped around too much, the strings of another were too tense or too soft or the size itself wouldn't fit with her height and arm length. He was being the pickiest, though, which surprised her but she welcomed it in the end.

The worst thing was that they had to pick _two _fitting rackets. If one were to break, one had to keep a reserve or be able to switch up his game in-between with different sets of strings. When he wouldn't budge on that matter, she wanted to pull out her hairs at his stubborn effort to sink her into poverty. Or his. She glanced up at his rat-tail. He had more to hold onto.

Minori looked at the rackets inside her hands. One silver, the other a dark green. She smiled and her heart skipped a beat with happiness, despite the exhaustion she'd experienced a moment earlier. It felt good to own one of her own again. They were _hers _to play tennis with. She would treasure them deeply and not try to destroy them.

She paid the rackets and the bag, gaining a respectful nod from the cashier at her choices. She gave Niou a thumbs-up. Good job.

He held onto the dark red tennis bag and stuffed the rackets inside while she held the door open for him. The bag had been the easiest choice of all. After he'd narrowed the preferred models down to her, all she had left to do was the choice of color. Her fingers were on the railing of the stairs when his voice made her spin around.

"Catch!" he shouted and threw the bag at her. Her arms were up immediately and she tilted her body to be able to catch the newly polished wares hurling at her. When her arms embraced the bag tightly, she slipped on the steps.

She didn't know which way with her hands and her legs slipped around, trying to get back the hold they'd lost. The stairs came in on her as she toppled and the world turned sideways.

She gasped as something caught her by the waist, squeezing all the air from her stomach as though being punched by lead iron. The world spun again and she blinked the stars on the edge of her vision away. The stairs were back to where they belonged to. Her hands still clutched the tennis bag. She in turn was clutched by a groaning Niou.

His arm was wrapped around her waist, the other pulled at her collar. Thank god for his trained reflexes. "I'm fine," she said. Only then did his hands leave her to stand on her own two feet, slowly snaking away from her chest. She blinked a few times, shouldered the tennis bag and turned to glare at him.

"Why do you want to kill me?" she whined exaggerated. Why was everyone out to hurt her in school? Akaya, now him. Toshio's other classmate, Haruma, had tried to hurt her older brother but it was still an attempt on a Kobayashi.

He raised his hands in defense. "Don't go around blaming people. You stood closer to the steps than I thought, that's all." He shrugged his shoulders, brushing off the topic nonchalantly.

She let out a cry of irritation and pointed her finger dramatically at him. "You people are going to be the death of me!" He only grinned very, very contently.

* * *

It was on the next morning that certain events started unfolding that filled her with a strange sense of pride and nervousness throughout the day.

Toshio and she arrived at school like always and went to their respective shoe boxes. One of the main differences about school in Japan was the changing of shoes once entering the building. They weren't allowed to enter with their street shoes, as to not dirty the halls further than needed. When Minori slipped out of her sneakers and pulled out her indoor shoes, a neatly folded paper hovered to the ground.

With a frown she put the shoes on and picked the paper up. Absentmindedly she placed the sneakers into the box and closed it shut. Keys they had not, that's how the note had gotten in the first place. She unfolded it and read it carefully.

_To Minori-kun,_

_I hope that this letter will reach you safely and that you'll read it as soon as you find it and not keep it until you get home. I don't think I could manage writing another one. All of my courage is inside this piece of paper now._

_I know you've enrolled just recently in this school but I've watched over you all the time. If you're willing to hear me out, please come to the school's garden after your practice today is over. Please don't tell anyone about this meeting, that would be embarrassing!_

_It would mean a lot to me if you came. Really!_

_You'll recognize me when you see me, but I won't tell you who I am. This way it feels like the Romeo is searching for his Juliette. Romantic, right?_

_Love,_

_X._

Minori stared at it wide-eyed. Her mouth snapped open and shut a few times until it finally hit her.

_A_ _love letter?!_

If the pink hearts on the paper didn't give the paper away, the last lines had done so. This was like a high school manga come true. Her mind was so slowed that her reaction to somebody snatching the love letter from her hands was a miniscule 'oh'.

She watched as Toshio's eyes jumped from left to right, reading the letter. He had a similar reaction to her, his eyes widening but from his mouth escaped a whistle. Minori blushed and snatched the paper back, stuffing it into her pocket.

"_You _have an admirer?" His voice was an octave higher, barely containing the squirming laughter he wanted to release. Then it came gushing out like a waterfall and he had to lean on her shoebox to not fall over, his shoulders shaking wildly with never-ending waves of laughter.

She glanced right and left and cupped his mouth with her hand but it barely muffled the noise. Tears leaked from his eyes. He was enjoying this too much. "Would you _please _stay quiet?"

He sniveled, broke out in laughter again then caught himself. "Seriously, Minori. You've got to be kidding me. Out of all the people it's _you_ that get's a love letter." As soon as he finished the sentence, another breathy laughter escaped his mouth.

"Don't talk about it, it's supposed to be a secret." She groaned and hid her face behind her hand. "What do I _do?_"

"Well, _lad, _you're going to tell that fine lady how you feel about her once she confesses her dear, fragile virgin heart out to you." His voice shook slightly but he muffled his laughter better this time around.

Minori cursed under her breath. "I feel _so sorry_ for that g-g-girl." Now her voice wavered and they both ended up laughing wildly, clutching their stomachs. That poor girl would get heartbroken over a girl-disguised-as-boy. Oh, the irony that she was the first one of the two sibling to receive a letter when Toshio was the epitome of manliness.

She remembered the conversation she'd held with Niou just a day earlier and toppled over in renewed laughter, telling her brother in between breaths what they'd discussed about. She would rub it in his face over and over again. Transfer student charm _and _tennis were ranked above tall and strong, judging by her brother's experience.

They separated in the halls to go to their respective classes, both snickering madly along the way, earning them stares of all manners. Crazy foreigners, indeed. She stumbled into the class room and plopped down on her chair with reddened cheeks. She shouldn't be laughing about it this much, there were real emotions in play, but to have received a love letter from a girl filled her with such pride in her acting skills that she couldn't do anything else.

She quickly found out that Toshio couldn't keep still like her. Marui and Niou popped up in every break, demanding the answers and the letter and playing a ridiculous mother role about responsibility.

The rest of her class caught on to that. The boys tried to lure the answer out of her through cleverly done small talk while the girls wanted to help in guessing who the mysterious person was. Akaya told her to throw the thing away. Once you follow the request of one letter, they'd soon multiply as if the other girls sensed their chances of success. He spoke out of experience.

Minori never found the time or a quiet spot to pull the letter out and read it again, searching for clues herself. Tennis practice turned out to be the worst. The first-years would admire her for the achievement, estimating their chances based on their own childish looks compared to hers. Those cheeky bastards. Some made bets about how many she'd get in the future and which place she'd rank amongst the most popular guys in the school.

When practice came to a close, a good dozen remained dilly-dallying around but she simply decided to sit it out, firmly leaning against the fence until they grew bored and headed home. They did however throw back a few last tips about how to make out best and leave the situation still unscathed. She felt a headache incoming already. What was it with these puberty-ridden boys in Japanese schools – or where they always as nosy? She'd expected more competing feelings towards the one that had the success, less tips and tricks about how to make the best of the situation.

She changed in the quiet and empty changing rooms, sighing and musing about what and whom to expect. Finally some peace of mind.

_You'll recognize me, _the letter had said. So she must have met the girl. And the girl had watched over her. By the way the female population in her class had reacted it didn't seem like it could be from that vicinity. Maybe they were just very good actors covering up her friends or themselves because apart from her own class she'd not befriended any other girls yet.

Each of the girl's faces flashed before her mind and with each face she grew more agitated. They all looked friendly but the images with blushed cheeks when Minori-kun helped them out in English or carried something for them wouldn't leave her mind alone. Oh god, what should she do if it really was a girl out of her own class? Hide behind Chiaki's slim shoulders maybe and hope for the girl not to cry.

She shouldered her new tennis bag and carried her school bag in one hand. The bag had earned a praising look from Sanada and Yukimura and the rackets felt good and right in her hands during matches. Her smashes came out stronger than before with Akaya's rackets and it filled her with pride. She was getting back in form. But she'd not shown her best yet. Ranking matches were discussed amongst the members but many didn't believe the regulars to change formation this year. The current eight were the best mix they could have wished for. Minori agreed to that but would eye Yukimura worriedly. It was because of his request she'd entered after all. He'd not shown any sign of weakness yet but she trusted that he wouldn't have had told her a lie to make her enter the team.

She wandered over the yard towards the back of the school. The garden was between the building, in an U-formed junction of the main building. It was lush with many trees and bushes making it a worthwhile place to hang around during break. It was quickly packed with students, though, especially when the sun shone. The trees offered great shadow.

It was also a good enough place to meet in private, she noted after making her way through the winding paths. Due to the trees and bushes others wouldn't be able to see them from afar. If they stood right they could create a perfect dead angle. To catch a glimpse of them would mean revealing oneself while entering the garden to risk a peek. Minori smirked. Surely this had to be the most popular place for confessions - a miracle that nobody thought of it while trying to extract the location from her. It was the perfect setting.

She sighed and leaned on the tree furthest in. There was no one in sight yet but it allowed Minori to arrange her words. What could she say? 'You're not my type', some of the boys had said, shrugging their shoulders. Easiest way out, although it might hurt or result in the girl asking what type she preferred. Maybe she should just shrug her off bluntly: blond, tall, none of the Japanese girls and be done with it once and for all. Then again it might not reach other girls' ears and another letter might wait for her in her shoe box again. The girl seemed shy, not wanting others to know about her. That plan had failed immediately when it spread that Minori was meeting with a girl but the other girls looked just as curious as the boys, not knowing who the admirer was.

She waited for a good ten minutes, folding the paper open a few times to check whether she was in the right place. As far as she knew there was no other place titled as the garden apart from the greenhouse, which was limited to its members, though. Without a key they wouldn't be able to enter. She played around with the paper, reading it to find a hidden clue between the rose-colored hearts, when she heard the rustling of grass and leaves.

Her heart beat quicker. The calmness she'd had during the day quickly evaporated. Now that she wasn't distracted with keeping the place a secret, nervousness sneaked into her mind. She was curious about who it would be and anxious about how it would end. She didn't want to make the girl cry or break her heart too harshly. But there was no other way around it. She looked down and breathed in and out deeply.

She shifted the weight from one leg to the other, trying to look as cool as possible with the tree as her buddy. When she looked up again, her brows shot up in surprise and a bad feeling churned up her stomach.

That was unexpected.

* * *

_To be continued._

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please do leave a review with your guesses as to what is going to happen in the next chapter. To whom do these eyes belong to? Did somebody new enter the story or did someone actually find out about her meeting place? All will be revealed soon enough! Until then!_

_I'm still curious who **you** think will find out first about Minori's gender, too. ;)_


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own Prince of Tennis.**

* * *

„You're actually here," he said with a grin that never reached his eyes. She gulped to clear her throat when he came closer until he loomed over her, tossing his bags to the side. The different shaped bags slid across the dirty ground, whirling up some dust.

Minori crossed her arms. "What are _you _doing here?" she huffed and craned her neck to look up into his dark turquoise eyes. If this was a prank of his, it was as dumb as it was childish. But she couldn't stop the bad feeling from forming as she watched his serious face. Her hairs stood on end, watchful over his every move.

Niou's brows rose high. "But baby brother – you called me out." He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and held it out to her. 'From Minori' stood on it in scribbled signs.

Relief washed over her accompanied by confusion as she reached for the folded paper. "Did somebody trick us both?" she whispered with a frown. She looked around to find another person nearby waiting to take a photo to placate the whole school with or to jump out in laughter at the two but nothing happened. Why would one go through all that trouble to have the two tennis players meet up in this place? This just didn't sound right.

She also couldn't quite place her fingers on who would actually do that. If it were Toshio, he'd have made sure to have others witness the scene. Whether Niou held many enemies, she didn't know and why it was her they pulled into this mess, even less.

She froze as she stared at the kanji forming her name. This was obviously not her writing but Niou couldn't have known that. He'd come by often today, demanding to know who she was meeting with. When he knew it was her he was meeting up, why the facade? He should have noticed that something was off.

He saw her hesitation and leaned in closer, bringing his head down to hers. "What's taking you so long?"

His voice was deep and the short relief she'd felt seconds ago melted away. Her heart jumped and beat as high as her throat. _He knows, _a tiny part echoed in the far back of her mind as she finally found the strength to unfold the paper with suspiciously trembling hands.

Five words took the floor from her feet.

_'I want to confess something.' _

Her head felt dizzy and she inhaled sharply. All sounds had disappeared but for the breathing of the two students in the garden. She couldn't see anything else but his cold, accusing eyes. No smirk this time around. He was done playing.

He knew.

She didn't know what to do but stare. This was too sudden. It couldn't be. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she managed out after a too long break.

Niou snorted and placed his hands next to her head, trapping her between his body and the tree. "I'm sure you do, baby _sister._" She clenched her teeth together hard. _Shit. Shit!_

He played with the strands of her hair, temporarily fixing his gaze on them and not her. "It's a convincing act, I give you that." He let go and the short hair framed her face again. His eyes blinked mischievously. "But don't think you can fool the Trickster."

She licked over her lips nervously, eying the muscled arms, briefly guesstimating her chances at escape. "Since when?" The sentence was incomplete but it was all that came to mind, all she wanted to know. Not that she'd performed her act for a very long time but just as he said: she'd convinced them all.

All but him.

"Ever since I saw you play." His eyes wandered lower, stopping shamelessly over her concealed breasts. She felt heat rise to her cheeks but refrained from crossing her arms. It would mean utter defeat. Since he hadn't blown her cover before checking with her, she held onto any straw she could grasp. "You don't move like a guy, no matter how hard you try. Yesterday I finally confirmed my suspicions," he finished with a smirk.

This time her face reddened from anger. The way he stared at her body brought back the memory of the only time he'd touched her more than just on the shoulders. He'd known exactly how close she stood by the stairs, had calculated her fall, calculated his catch. The incredulity of him waiting for the opportunity to touch her more intimately than he should. Purposely he'd lured her out to play his wicked games, just like he'd done today.

Each breath he took was a bastard she wanted to punch. How dare he touch her shamelessly like that over her chest to prove his assumptions!

"What do you want from me?" she drawled out through trembling shoulders. She didn't expect him to finish this off lamely by simply telling everyone.

He cocked his head to the side, the rat-tail jumping forward with the move. She glared at it as though it was another enemy.

"I see you watching Yukimura-buchou all the time. Suddenly it makes sense that you'd disguise yourself as a boy and even join the team. But you've got to be pretty desperate to go that-"

Minori snorted loudly, ridiculed at his far-fetched suspicions. There she was thinking that he was a cunning bastard but he was just a mere boy in the end. "You think I'm in _love _with Yukimura? That's why I do this? Here I thought you were clever," she rolled her eyes. If he wanted to blow her cover via the captain it would be bearable. The embarrassment would be small, especially when said captain was her justification for it all. The worst would hit the poor Yukimura.

Niou narrowed his eyes at her. "There's obviously something going on with the way you look at him all the goddamn time. It's a miracle nobody's noticed those looks yet."

Suddenly she snapped. "I'm worried because he's _ill, you stupid prick!" _Half the sentence ended in a hiss, anger pulsing with the blood rushing through her veins. This was just ridiculous. He comes in to tell her secret off after a week of becoming a member but fails to notice that something was off with one of his own _friends_. Minori pulled him closer by his collar, their noses almost touching. "You wanna be perceptive? How about you look at the buchou for once and stop sprouting bullshit!"

The sudden outburst surprised him, the first genuine non-threatening look that crossed his face throughout the whole conversation. She could have punched him in the stomach and would have probably earned the same reaction. Never had she felt more fitting to the role of a boy than in this very instant.

His hand wrapped around her wrist, peeling her fingers off the white shirt. "What do you mean, he's ill?" He was back again, the mask on as if nothing against the norm had happened. She breathed out shakily. She'd already failed Yukimura in that regard and spilled the secret he kept from his friends in a fit of anger. In defense at the false accusations. She didn't even now whether she did it solely for her purpose or for his as well.

"It's not like he'd tell me _all _the details. That's why I joined the club." She remembered the hushed conversation they'd held in the corridors. How his gentle voice never wavered at the brave request. "He wants to keep it a secret from you guys and goes as far as to tell it a stranger. He had no idea who I was! What would _you _do in my shoes?"

"So he offered you a place just in case something... happened to him," he stated, the grip on her wrist tightening with the realization. Silence heaved down on them and she dared not move her hand away. Wind rustled through his hair and revealed the deep frown etched into his face as he thought about what unexpected news he'd gathered.

As if remembering that she was still there, he mustered her face all over again. The malice from before was replaced with wariness but she knew he'd found some truth in her words to latch himself onto.

Niou eventually released her wrist from his tight grip and bent down to pick his school and tennis bag up. She kept her arm hanging to her side, not wanting to show any weakness that would make him go back on his decision.

He shouldered the bags quietly. "Until I see Yukimura-buchou actually collapsing, you're living on borrowed time." He turned around once, mischief flashing through his eyes. "Don't think I'll leave you alone just like that." The lush bushes swallowed his tall form quickly and the rustling of leaves and earth disappeared soon after.

Minori slid down the tree trunk and stretched her legs out. She rubbed the throbbing wrist gently.

* * *

The walk back home was lonely and took longer than other times. The sun was setting over the houses framing the streets, casting long shadows where people walked. She fumbled the keys out of her bag, glad that her mother was still working.

The door opened beneath her touch and the sounds of the TV reached her ears. She slipped out of her shoes and tiredly drove a hand through her hair before going into the open living room, where the sounds came from.

Her brother was at the fridge, just pulling out a yogurt of sorts when he spotted her leaning the different-colored bags by the dark sofa. He skipped over to her, leaning upside down over her slouched form on the sofa.

"How did it go?" He asked with an excited grin, his honey-brown hair giving in to the inverted gravity and falling out of his face, revealing curious dark eyes. He'd inherited those from Dad.

She stared at him for a moment before actually answering. "Watch out for Niou for me," she eventually said.

Toshio frowned and rounded the sofa, plopping down next to his sibling. "What's Niou got to do with anything?" Mirth gleamed in his eyes. "He pulled a prank on you, right?" He nudged her with his elbow but quickly stopped when he saw the grim look she gave him.

"No. He knows," she answered curtly.

Just what should she do?

* * *

"Oh, this is horrible!" Minori groaned when Toshio knotted the bandages together tightly. "I feel like a rock." She rolled her shoulders with great effort, the unusual weight pressing down on her making the movement more difficult than it should be.

She slipped into the school uniform's white shirt and buttoned it up. A glance in the mirror told her that she was still her usual self and hadn't turned gray and crackly. Her shirt didn't bulge up either, although she felt like a bulky monster with the weights on her shoulders.

Toshio did her striped tie with swift moves while she sneaked the last crumb of her breakfast into her mouth, licking her fingers clean afterward. He patted her brotherly on the arm and pulled her up. "You're ready for battle."

They both picked up their bags and hurried out of her room, down the stairs. Despite all the bags weighing her down further, she felt renewed vigor with each step further towards the door. The fire that had burned down momentarily was ignited yet again and it shone brighter than it had ever before. She was no coward. Because she wasn't, she'd gotten in this mess. And she'd shove _him_ a victory right up his face.

"Toshio! My brother-in-arms!" He saluted and they jumped at each other chest-first, shouting a loud 'HUAGH!' of a battle cry. Their mother walked out of the bathroom with a raised brow, a towel sitting firmly on her head.

"Did I miss something?" she asked with pursed lips.

"Nothing!" They exclaimed in unison, slipped on their shoes and ran out the door. They'd made precautions of such ingenuity that she couldn't wait for tennis practice that day. Leave it to the Kobayashi siblings to cook up a counter within a few hours.

She'd gone through her first weekend in Japan coming up with ideas to stay sane within the madness her family, the nurse and Yukimura had placed her under.

The second weekend she'd succeeded and only worried about fighting muscle pain and a pile of homework. She prided herself in the success, no matter how grumpy she occasionally was about it all.

Now, in the middle of the week _he'd _proposed a threat to her carefully balanced life. It came by quicker than she would have liked but in the end she was glad that it had and that the opponent was him. He wanted to play games. She never left challenges untouched.

* * *

Minori came late to practice on that day as well, although with good reason which spared her the extra rounds she usually earned. When a teacher asked for help, one had to bow to their wishes even if it meant a potentially fuming Sanada. She changed quickly in the empty changing rooms, her tardiness allowing for them to be void of any life but the thrown about shirts and pants.

After warm-up was finished, Yukimura gathered all the members around him. She couldn't quite hear his words, her own warm-up still on-going and forcing her further away from the gathered mass.

When she jogged over, the eight regulars stood in front of seven non-regular members. The difference in attitude wasn't as immense as she'd imagined, judging by the way everybody talked about the best eight players of the team with respect. While the regulars looked confident and smug, their fellow classmates still managed to hold a competitive air around them.

"The last one has finally arrived," Yukimura spoke up, nodding at her. "Kobayashi Minori, 2nd-year."

Ryo waved at her to get in row and she did as told, standing next to Haruma, the third-year who'd tried to hurt Toshio on their first day. She was not the least bit surprised that he scowled at her and rolled her shoulders excitedly in anticipation of whatever was going to happen now. Her tongue flicked over her lips and she stared at Niou across from her with challenging eyes.

His usual mischievous glint flashed through his orbs and he purred a quiet 'puri'. Unbeknownst to all members, a war had started in that very moment. If he thought he could scare her off easily, then he was in for a treat. She'd had her moment of weakness when he faked the love letter and played around with her all day long.

Yukimura snapped them out of their glares. "The rest of you is dismissed. Continue training as usual." The rest of the team scattered in wild whispering, glancing back every so often to wish luck to their comrades. "We," the blue-haired boy continued, "will start matches immediately." With that they trotted after him onto the courts the regulars usually reserved for themselves.

An arm with a black sweatband sneaked around her shoulders and she heard the familiar popping sound of a bubble gum. "Baby brother made it into the Top 8!" Marui hugged her one-handed, the other combing through her hair madly.

The boy in front of them turned around, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "He is on par with Akaya, after all," Yagyuu stated calmly. She'd never talked to 'The Gentleman' in the week she'd entered the club but he was ranked high with the girls from what she'd heard.

"He's not!" Said boy cried out before pointing the racket dangerously close to her face. Anger darkened his green eyes. "I'll crush you today," he growled.

She drawled out a grin through heavy-lidded eyes. "Who was it that almost beat you 6-0 again?" She remembered the ridiculous rumors. "Ah, right. _Me._" She leaned in close to his face, sticking her tongue out at him to disarm the sharpness of the words. Not that he picked up on that.

Akaya pulled at his hair. "ARGH! Who is still spreading that stupid rumor!" He demanded to know. He lashed out to the side, scaring back the girls that gathered around the fences. Minori barely saw them during practice, the swooning fan girls, for they always glued themselves to these parts. Where she and Ryo practiced together, none flocked around.

Yukimura's gentle voice interrupted the 2nd-year. "You will settle things with Minori-kun another time, Akaya. _Today_ he'll play against Renji." Somehow he was able to lace a fierce darkness into the words that allowed no defiance. No wonder he was the captain.

While Yukimura paired the rest of the people, a shadow loomed over herself, growing bigger the closer it got. Minori craned her neck to be able to take a peek at the closed eyes of the tall boy. Was this some kind of joke, pairing up the smallest with the tallest member? Marui cackled up with seizures of laughter at the odd pair.

She turned her attention to one of the famous Three Monsters, mentally bracing herself for the strain in her neck she'd surely get from talking to him. "What's this actually all about? I couldn't hear the speech," she started.

Yanagi Renji crossed his arms, looking over the separated groups of people. "The strongest non-regular members get to have a try at the regular's position." He paused briefly. "The chances of any of you succeeding this shortly before the Prefecturals lie with 0.5%."

She snorted. "Way to go to motivate me." She watched as Sanada began his onslaught on Haruma, the unlucky one to be paired with him. No wonder the percentage lay this low. The vice-captain was brutal.

"I believe you're unable to drop your motivation this easily," he said without looking at her. She frowned at the statement but before short, a smile tugged at her lips. If only he knew that his words fed the rebellious fire further – but not for tennis reasons.

The silver rat-tail flailed around wildly with each of his rapid moves. Sanada had made short work, unable to hold back his own destructive power and the trickster entered the field in his stead. His matches were just as fast as his movement.

When he played, he still grinned smugly. The freckled boy stood no chance against his unpredictable behavior, the way he switched the racket around from left to right hand. He was a dangerous opponent. She glanced to the boy with the brown bob and still closed eyes. _They all are._

"Shall we?" he asked her when Niou shook hands with the other boy after winning and nobody moved to take their place yet. She tightened the grip around her red tennis bag and nodded. This wouldn't be a very fair match but she wouldn't take the weights off her shoulders now either. Let's see how far she could go with the extra pounds.

"Minori-kun! Ganbatte!" A female voice reached her from her left just as she pulled out one of her rackets. She blinked twice, staring at the blob of uniformed girls. It took her a few seconds to find the owner of the voice, whose tiny hand was curled up into a fist. Chiaki, that little worried friend.

She gave her a breathy laugh, happy to find a supporter amidst the shaky reality of her disguise. Another twig to a fire she'd keep burning until the end of the school year, she'd decided. To hell with her gender. She'd be a boy as long as she wanted. "Thanks!" Minori gave her a broad smile, before turning to shake hands with one of the Three Monsters. Her heart pumped wildly in excitement and the racket swirled impatiently in her hand.

The 3rd-year smiled slightly. "Your service game," he said.

* * *

_Whoop! Niou found out first! And he's gonna make her life hell. (I'm open to prank suggestions. Anything you come up with, really. Shameless.)_

_I'm currently amusing myself with naming the 'arcs' of the chapters. This one would mark the start of 'The War' definitely. Anyway, I'll keep the note short and thank Guest reviewer Yuu again for the guesses! Can't PM you like the others after all. Next time we'll be zooming in right into a match!_


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't own Prince of Tennis.**

* * *

The boy swirled the silver racket excitedly in his hand. Renji waited calmly for him to pull out the first ball, anticipating a certain serve he'd come to see a great number of times over the course of the week. His Pinball Serves were created from a double-sided spin, first by hand, then by racket, to hit his opponent's side of the field with such ferocity and angle, that it couldn't do anything else but take off like a Twist Serve with doubled speed. It was an interesting, explosive ability. And the only one he'd gathered so far.

He shouldn't be too surprised to not have found anything on the boy during his first research. He hadn't played the sport in years and they were young people. When he researched somebody, he was thorough but the body hadn't played in any major nor minor tournaments, not in America, France or Japan. But the overall lack of information was almost frightening.

It was as if the boy had never existed until he came to the school. He couldn't gather much from his past in the States yet. Nobody knew him beforehand. Of course he'd never been to Japan before, at least officially and over long periods of time.

The school had average data on him. His grades were alright, scaling high in English and P.E. Akaya told him that he was very flexible, alike Marui, so he couldn't have completely abandoned any sort of training. His stamina was lacking but the overall physique was top-notch. He glanced over the exposed legs. Not a speck of unnecessary fat and shaped nicely. He stared at them a little longer than he would have liked, distracted by the smooth skin, before snapping out of his daze. Focus on data.

Maybe he should continue research down the aquaphobic path. The fact was added afterward to the school's resume as if he didn't want it to be known initially. Was it simply out of shame? Or maybe the fear of students playing tricks on him. Renji might have to hold their team's trickster back on that, considering it is a true, debilitating fear and not something to joke with easily.

Minori held the back of his hand hand up before flicking his wrist upward. The ball flew high, getting the first spin from the way he jerked his wrist up. When it was almost too low to hit, he lunged at it. The ball briefly danced across the web of his racket, adding a vertical spin, before he fully smashed it over. The effect was tremendous.

The ball dashed over the net with fast speed, twitching mid-air with the two-sided spin. The moment it touched the ground it ricocheted as if appalled by the impact, tumbling over itself in the suddenly doubling speed. Within the blink of an eye it crashed into the fence behind him, clattering loudly.

"15-0," Sanada, who was the referee for this match, called out. Renji smiled. Very powerful to experience head-on and definitely potential for more.

Minori repeated the serve, switching the direction of where it would hit but he caught up immediately, calculating that he would switch up his play quicker with him as opponent. He'd seen the serve often enough, while the boy idled around with his classmate Satsunomi Ryo. The speed was already formidable in the beginning but he was after all accustomed to Yagyuu's Laser Beams.

Renji smashed the ball to the other side of the field and Minori missed it by a hair. There was something off with the serves and his thoughtful face supported the theory only further as he blinked at the racket in his hand.

"Your form is different today, Minori-kun," he spoke out but didn't get any desired answer. Instead their newest member flicked the next serve up with renewed vigor.

It brushed the net and he had to repeat it. Renji raised a brow.

The next hit the net fully, swirling with the left-over energy before bouncing lazily off the ground.

"Fault. 15-30," Sanada said. What was with the boy today? Those serves would usually land with pinpoint accuracy, fast and strong. They still held the strength but the speed of his arm didn't catch up. He didn't look hurt nor exhausted, so what was it?

The next serve ended up being a slow lob that he almost wouldn't have caught, expecting another try at Pinball Serves again. Minori didn't even bother catching up to his return, almost casually jogging to where the ball hurled towards. Now that was just plain rude. He'd established him to be eager to play a regular – one of the Three Monsters even – or was the determination only reserved to the players he could easily beat? He couldn't believe to have miscalculated the boy that greatly.

"15-40."

He held his shoulder absentmindedly before rolling both back and blowing brown hair out of his face. He gave him a mischievous smile, that determination flickering in the gray eyes after all, but still lobbed another serve his senior could easily return. He jogged after the returning ball but missed it. Purposely again, in Renji's eyes, because he'd returned it with the same laziness. Sanada announced the victory of the first set to Renji. The vice-captain wasn't fazed by the boy's play at all, not even bothering to correct his obvious lacking behavior.

Then it was his turn to change it and squeeze a good performance out of the transfer student. He would stop him from playing around any longer. He raised his arm high and bent back for his serve, eager to get something out of the boy to extend his data.

Minori just breathed out when the ball dashed towards him.

* * *

A bubble popped in surprise, sticking onto nose and cheek and somebody whistled amusedly. Green eyes bulged out before he cried out, pointing a wavering finger at the match playing out before their very eyes. "What the hell is going on!" He screeched. This couldn't be happening. This wasn't actually happening. _What the hell!_

Both Yanagi-senpai and Minori rallied over the first serve from his senpai as if their lifes depended on it. Nobody was willing to give in. His classmate was completely changed, dashing after the yellow blur like a madman that his shoes screeched across the field.

His mouth was slightly parted and eyes darting around even crazier than his body. He landed in a crouch to lob a low aimed ball high and circled backwards to await the return. Akaya almost snorted, knowing full well that it was a mistake to change directions too fast. The opponent had all the time in the world to adjust to that advantage. Yanagi-senpai would simply cross it on the other side of the field.

Yanagi-senpai mumbled to himself, calculating where the ball would land but it just barely grazed his racket as if he was guesstimating the location wrong. The ball braked in its speed, landing gracefully on Minori's racket before he smashed it with a wicked grin. He was already back on his feet and dashing that his yellow shirt slid upward to reveal his stomach. Akaya stared at his buchou with panicked eyes. "Yukimura-buchouuuu!" he whined.

"Oi, shut up, Bakaya. Enjoy the show," Niou snarled, eyes dead-set on the match, never leaving Minori's strange movement. Akaya clutched his curly black hair in desperation. How was this brat keeping up with one of the Three Monsters? More importantly, why wasn't anybody just as worried as him!

A collected gasp snapped his attention back to the field but he'd missed the obvious. Both Rikkaidai players stood with lowered rackets. Until Sanada's voice roared over the field. "15-0," he called with his left hand stretched out wide, indicating towards Minori's side. _Minori won the first point. Minori won over Yanagi-senpai. _It repeated itself like a tantra in his mind. Who the heck was that guy?!

Within the blink of his eyes another rally started between them. Yanagi-senpai looked as calm as always but Minori's movement was weird, almost creeping him out. He could get used to Marui's crazy acrobatic play but Minori sort of danced around. Marui never flowed his arms to the side like that. But still the brat never _missed._

He circled and leaped across the field and forced Yanagi-senpai to run just as much to catch up to the balls. Minori's movement almost seemed _planned. _No way in hell could somebody move that flawlessly, with no chopping or split-second decision in their steps. Not when playing one of the Monsters! He talked from experience!

This time he kept his mouth shut, though, gnawing on the knuckles of his fist, and actually saw what elicited another round of gasps and surprised looks.

Minori turned on his right heel, circling so that his back was turned to his opponent and returned the shot backwards, his hair whipping wildly. Yanagi-senpai caught up and returned it immediately after but Minori circled back on the same heel, holding the racket with both hands and used the momentum to smash the ball across the net that it vibrated through his thin arms.

The ball dashed onto the far-off white line of the left field. Yanagi-senpai stood on the complete opposite side. Sanada-fukubuchou cleared his throat. "30-0."

Akaya let out a silent scream into his fist. Yanagi-senpai had to be ill, to be that far off. Yukimura-buchou chuckled, catching the attention of the other regulars next to him. "What is _that_?" The perplexed 2nd-year asked and flailed his arms at the two players. With 'that' he meant the whole screwed-up situation.

Yukimura-buchou cocked his head. "If I had to name it, I'd say it's a reversed Tezuka Zone." Akaya froze on the spot upon hearing that name. That was a famous player and an even more famous technique that had beat Sanada once. Although the vice-captain would never admit to that openly without chopping someone's head off.

Niou placed his hands in the pockets of his white shorts. "So he's running around instead of standing in one place?" Yukimura nodded.

"It definitely lifts the burden on the arm. But this version doesn't look fit to be used by someone with such a frail body either." Akaya blinked. He glanced at the match again, seeing a concentrated Minori leaping towards the net. He immediately backed up into the corner, instants before the Data-Monster actually hit the tennis ball. Sweat poured down Minori's forehead and neck already. And again the tennis ball landed on his racket when Yanagi-senpai could have shot it _anywhere_ but there, as if reeled in by an invisible pull.

Marui played with his red hair. "I thought the Tezuka Zone was about spins to force the ball back to you. Baby brother is just dancing weirdly." He imitated some sort of egyptian dance, palms up and shaking his shoulders when changing the direction of his hands. Minori stretched his body with one leg raised high in the very same insant, returning a shot before he tumbled. "See? So synchro." He gave them all a toothy grin.

The racket flew from Minori's right, dominant hand to his left and he gave a sloppy return while brushing his sweaty hand off on his shorts. Then it jumped back to the previous hand when Yanagi-senpai's return sliced through the air in a straight line towards his classmate. He took the whirling ball straight on, the muscles on his legs constricting as he circled yet another time around himself. Again with the momentum he returned the ball with the same amount of strength, letting it race over the racket until it bounced off the edge madly. Creating crazy amounts of spin.

Marui's mouth opened in a perfect circle that the bubble gum almost fell out. "Now that was a hell of a lot of spin." Yukimura-buchou smiled and crossed his arms.

Yanagi-senpai stepped towards his left first, eyes set on the twitching ball, before dashing to his right, stretching his arm out and holding with both hands onto the racket. The ball crashed into the racket and spun furiously, bending the strings.

"Minori hasn't changed directions once. Always knowing where the ball will go. That's the famous Tezuka Zone." The captain's voice trailed off as another point for the 2nd-year was announced. The racket crashed into the fence, held in place briefly by the continuously spinning ball before it landed on the ground.

Akaya pulled at his hair again.

* * *

"6-1. Game, set won by Yanagi Renji." Minori was sprawled on the floor, sweating profoundly out of every pore. Her hair clung to her face but she didn't find the strength to lift the wet strands off. Every muscle in her body twitched and she panted heavily.

She'd poured all her strength into gaining that one single game point, stretched the limits of her body. Stupid weights drove her crazy, making the whole ordeal all the more difficult but the sheer _pride _she felt now compensated for all the frustration. Adrenaline had pumped madly through her body, allowing her to forget the pain and exhaustion on her arms with the added weight. Never in her life had she been as crazy and determined to win, to force surprise out of that analyzing face as she caught him in her loop, never allowing him a moment's rest.

That he mercilessly crushed her afterward didn't mean nothing to her. She knew exactly the looks she'd elicited from the regulars, from the swooning girls, from the other seven candidates. And she _relished _in the fact that her play was so well-received, that she could make the crowd gasp. Especially from a certain staring silver-head.

He would learn not to treat her like any of the other girls, for she would catch him in her pace like she did the analyzing 3rd-year.

The shadow of her match partner's long frame blocked the sunlight and he knelt beside her, peeling her heavy hand off the floor to shake it like one would after a match. She grinned. "What a monster," she wheezed. He smiled briefly before helping her up and steadying her on her feet.

Yanagi gave her a firm pat on the sticky back. "Says the one playing with weights," he whispered, "You always offer a new surprise." Her eyes widened slightly before she gave him a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of her head nervously. She shouldn't be too surprised that he knew. The way he eventually predicted her shots throughout the match should have more than proven his clever mind. It was scary how he slowly knew better where her balls would land than she – and she was the one hitting and aiming them after all.

Akaya stared at her incredulously when he passed her to prepare for his match. He would rage later, that much was a given. Maybe she should pack her things quicker today. She somehow picked the tennis bag up and crawled towards the sinks behind the changing rooms. Yanagi stayed behind to watch the match, gathering data on his friends and potential new regulars. With the 0.5% chance he'd guessed right so far, he must know a lot about them already but one might never know.

She turned the water on and drowned her head under the spurt of water. She slumped to her knees and rested her arms on the edge of the long basin, relishing in the cool washing off the dirt and grime.

How long she hung around like that, she didn't know but it didn't feel like much time had passed when a hand grasped her by the collar. It jerked back in wild flailing. "Shit, you're freezing," he cursed at the cold block that was her head. "Drowning won't get you out of _anything_, little girl."

Minori chuckled and shook her head that the hair whipped wildly, splashing water around. Turquoise eyes glared at her, pinching the end of his slightly wetted tennis shirt. "Don't be such a fuss." She rolled her eyes. The water dripped down her neck and spine, causing relieved goosebumps all over her body.

Taking the challenge, his hand sneaked around her jaw and he leaned down on her head with his, nuzzling her wet hair. He was getting indefinitely more touchy and she was certain it was all to make her uncomfortable. "Matches are over. Captain calls you back for retrospection," he said monotonously as if changing his sentence mid-way, glancing at something over her shoulder. "Oi, Haruma. You should come back, too."

With a start Minori turned to where he was looking at, seeing the auburn-haired boy with a can in his hand standing nearby. His shoulders were really broad, she noticed for the first time from this angle. He looked over at the pair with raised brows but decided to nod instead of question their queer behavior. She didn't quite catch the dangerous glint in his eyes because Niou pulled her along with a tug.

"Found the strays~," he chimed towards the gathered rest of 13 people. Chattering broke out at their appearance as the girls by the fence whispered amongst themselves. Minori swore she heard her name in between it all again and hoped for better rumors than last time with Akaya. She slicked the wet hair back nonchalantly, trying her best to ignore the cooing hens for the remainder of the practice.

Yukimura took his time to talk to each pair individually, pointing out strength and flaws in the non-regulars play particularly. That left the rest with much time to kill until it was their turn and Akaya immediately found it in his place to prod her with threats and invites to play against him. That boy was crazy for the sport and it irked him to have found his rival _in his own class _out of all places. She was glad to be called up by the captain quickly, for he never stopped talking.

While it was mostly the analytic Yanagi listing off a training and even dieting plan to follow after school – and she was pretty sure he purposely repeated the words _pathetic stamina _to smite her – she and the smiling captain exchanged knowing glances. Somehow she felt as if this sort of 'peace' wouldn't last long. There was something in his smile that reminded her of his fear and worry and the duty she would hold sooner or later. They'd never talked about the topic again, acting captain and member but that small thread of knowing connected them invisibly.

With some last excruciating laps around the fields their practice was over for the day. She'd irked her green-eyed classmate by literally clinging onto him while he ran, too tired to move her aching feet any longer. He was just too much fun to tease but yielding enough to half-drag her along as a compromise.

She of course let him drag her along to the changing rooms as well, grinning like her birthday had come earlier this year while he grumbled. Oh, she just couldn't wait for theirstupid expressions, had waited ever since morning. She wasn't trying to get out of anything. She was eager to win.

* * *

_First of all: I hope the match was written quite alright, if not overly detailed... It didn't feel right to write it out of Minori's perspective (yet). Also I hope I haven't scared any reader off with the mention of 'reversed Tezuka Zone'. It is nowhere near as powerful because hers (it will get an actual, different name in the next chapter) is very stamina-depleting. And she's the worst with stamina as we all know already._

_To the guest reviewers: Hell yes, Niou found out and I'm so glad you like Marui so far, **A Midsummer**! He's only shown up so little but it makes me so happy. :D_


	8. Chapter 8

**I don't own Prince of Tennis.**

* * *

The changing room was packed with boys excitedly chatting with each other in all stages of nudity. Yellow and black tennis uniforms talked to blue-striped underwear, socks and shoes lay around on benches and ground. Naked muscles shifted when arms stretched and belly buttons greeted the world. Bare feet tapped over the floor with wet towels slung across shoulders as they exited the showers and goosebumps let hairs stand on end.

Even the American-French part of Minori wasn't quite prepared for the sight.

Of course the boys weren't nowhere near a grown adult with Herculean body measurements you saw in music spots or advertising but some came quite close to their age's equivalent of that. Tennis was a sport after all and sports kept the body in shape. And Minori was just a girl in the middle of heavy wafts of cologne, sweat and manly pheromones. A sheep with a pretty crappy wolf mask amongst a wild pack of wolves, to be correct.

"Oi, get off my back now. You smell," Akaya mumbled. She'd unconsciously moved completely behind him and clung tighter around his neck that his curly hair tickled her nose. She felt heat rise to her cheeks but quickly swallowed the lump in her throat. Concentrate on being angry at Akaya for insulting her instead of the high amount of exposed skin. She had to retort something. One did not tell a girl that she smelled even if he technically didn't know she was one. That was no excuse.

She drilled her finger into his cheek, trying to distract him from her rosy cheeks. "I'm sorry! You ever played with one of the Monsters?" He raised his brow, eyes wondering where this would lead again. He had really long lashes, she noticed for the first time from this close. His eyes had always been very pretty with their unusual deep green. But she wasn't about to get distracted by that. Nono.

Her high opinion of his looks she developed inside her brain contradicted with the words she spoke out in reality. "That's because you _stink_ in _tennis_."

With bubbling laughter she escaped his reaching hands, letting him catch air and stepped playfully out of his reach only to crush into another's arms. A myriad of curses escaped her mouth, forsaking her luck when she felt a smooth, firm chest beneath her cheek.

Her eyes trailed upwards over tan skin to a shaved head and a friendly smile. Yes, just let the poor sheep crush head-on into the Iron Wall of Defense of the team and his wonderfully sculpted body. The crappy mask was definitely starting to crumble when another surge of red rose to her cheeks. Japanese TV had taken its toll on her. That had to be it. She quickly needed some dirty American TV to counter. Or more of her brother walking around in underwear. Anything to help her get out of this predicament in the future.

Jackal laughed at the two 2nd-years. "Don't be mad, Akaya." That didn't help the fume behind her at all as she could still feel the daggers his eyes threw piercing her back. In deep, deep gashes. Jackal stretched her away from him, holding onto her forearms as he beamed at her. "Hey! Great play, even if you lost. I've never seen Yanagi that far off."

Minori opened her mouth, mind blank as to what to retort. She was like a limbless doll in his hands. It took all her willpower to fight against her eyes wandering over his exposed chest. One just had to be a foreigner to have such a blessed body this young and early. Sorry Japanese guys. Tough luck.

Oh, this was seriously getting over her head. The smells drifting by her nostrils didn't help at all. They only choked her oral functions further. Anybody - help!

A loud war cry was all the warning she got before she was pulled off her feet fiercely and crashed into the wall. Jackal's surprised look followed her until she was left struggling in the tight embrace of dark, purplish hair in her vision. Forget the fuming Akaya – this boy would be her death.

"Can't... breathe..." Her arms flailed around his body weakly until he released her with a giggle on his merry face. She coughed, hand rubbing her neck. She would never again plead for help. The nearest boys shook their heads at them, not quite understanding where the energy and volume was coming from. Yes, this was going _very_ smooth. Just as planned. Toshio would be proud so much, he would laugh his ass off after her report.

Her glare at Ryo softened immediately when she saw his face. She pulled him down by his hair. Either his dramatic behavior rubbed off on her or the fact that he was still fully clad made her desperately reckless and back to brutal 'boy' levels. "What the hell happened to your face?!"

A dark bruise formed around the socket of his eye, squeezing the lids of his already Asian eyes slightly more shut. He waved it off excitedly, rubbing the back of his head. "Just a ball, just a ball. I got distracted by the matches."

She groaned before pushing him back, placing her tennis bag down next to his on a bench. They had similar red colors, so it was quite recognizable. At least she'd gotten away from Akaya, who'd most likely taken a quick shower to get off her stench since she couldn't spot him in the sea of heads. Idiot. She discreetly sniffed at her shirt.

"Say, what's that thing you did? You know, when you won that one game!" Ryo pulled his tennis shirt off nonchalantly, squeezing his head through the hole before beaming at her that his eyes glittered. She felt like banging her head on one of the lockers. Now even he was half-naked and intent on striking up a conversation. American TV. ASAP.

Outwardly she put on a shrug. "I call it Spin Play," she mumbled, pulling out her school uniform from her bag.

Ryo pouted like a little child, disheartened at the curt, indifferent answer. "So boring~" He crossed his arms.

Minori blinked perplexedly at him. "Not everything that leaves my mouth is awesome. Just the curses." _And you force a lot of curses out whenever you startle me like that. _She created spins to play around with her opponents, simple as that. It was more than enough reasoning a little child could come up with when creating that sort of technique.

He clicked his tongue and shook his head so disappointed that she almost felt really ashamed. At least he successfully distracted her from the nudity radiating from him and ultimately the rest of the room. "Pinball Serve sounds cool. Let's make it something fancy, too!"

"Any suggestions?"

"Uhh..." He sat down beside her, both their heads propped up on their hands. "Spin of Hell!" She snorted loudly.

"Just because it has 'Hell' in it doesn't make it awesome. Next."

He pondered about it briefly before his face lit up. "You do stuff with games, right?" She nodded hesitantly. Pinball technically is a game although that was and is still the only ability named after one. "How about Nintendo Spins!"

Her head slipped off her arms comically before she pulled herself together. "I'll get sued for that!" She whacked him over the head. "Just accept Spin Play!"

He huffed his cheeks. "That form looked so good. So dangerous, you know?" Yes, that bruise was an apparent proof of that if he got distracted during her play. "We gotta combine America, France and Japan into it." Minori stared at him with a hanging mouth. How could this boy dramatize _every_ tiny bit of his life, be it in physical form, with each bone-breaking hug or with simple naming issues. "KFC?" She whacked him over the head again.

Shaking her head at his stubbornness, she tugged at the sweaty shirt, sliding it over her shoulders in one swift move with a grumbled curse.

* * *

Niou had only briefly run off to the toilets but returned to see no sign of the girl Akaya was dragging around unbeknownst him across the fields. Just for one moment he'd looked away and she'd escaped, taking with her his chance to play around with her further. She'd looked so eager to take up his challenge but in the end she'd resorted to avoiding him. How boring. It wasn't like she could get out of this anyway.

Yagyuu waited for him in front of the changing rooms, nodding at him when he finally rounded the corner. Just as he was about to say something, a loud yell snapped both their heads to the changing rooms. Without a speck of hesitation, he stalked after Yagyuu to enter the room where a bloody murder just might have taken place.

The room was packed, the biggest bulk of members changing while the first-years gathered up balls. It didn't take him long to find the source of the incredulous yell as all heads turned towards one specific spot in the room.

"You played with _WEIGHTS?!_" Everybody inside the room winced at the sharp tone, but froze just like him, seizing up a certain wet-haired 2nd-year. The room had fallen completely silent at her sight.

Minori shrugged her slender shoulders nonchalantly. "My stamina sucks, so I gotta train harder." She tapped one of the bulky weights strapped over her shoulder blades. They stood in stark contrast to the bandages covering the whole upper part of her body, ending just above her ribcage. "But they keep on slipping off. It's so troublesome." She pinched the bandages tied repeatedly around the weights to keep them in place to support her ridiculous claim.

If looks could be translated into stupidity, each and every man inside the room would fail school by the next day. How was it possible nobody stood up, pointed at her dramatically and shouted the one word that she so obviously was. _A girl. _A cheeky girl with no sense of shame whatsoever. To leisurely enter a den of lions that would rip her to shreds if they noticed one wrong detail, one curve that should not be there. _But they do not,_ he snorted inwardly.

As if waiting for his cue, Akaya's voice shrieked through the stunned silence, a towel around his shoulders, stuttering through his own surprise. "You-You-You...! You played _Yanagi-senpai _with _weights?_" Way to repeat the obvious, Bakaya. Minori merely nodded, fingers already reaching for her male uniform shirt.

His hands were immediately all over her body, searching for other hidden weights under her arms while at the same time tugging at the bandages. She half chuckled, half brushed him off as he tickled her while exploring what he couldn't accept as reality. Niou's jaw tightened at the sight of his seaweed hair brushing her exposed shoulders. Touching her that intimately without suspecting _a goddamn thing. _

Not only did she waltz into the changing rooms and stripped off her shirt, she let that idiot touch her however he liked. He snorted at the irony. She'd chosen attack over defense. Of course everybody would believe her when she said the weights 'slipped around'. They got a got look at her small body now after all. It was just that nobody apart from him and her knew that it belonged to a real girl and not a weakly-developed boy with feminine looks. She was a girl his age, with breasts and definitely nothing dangling between her legs.

He was furious just as he was amused. Angry at being tricked by such ridiculousness and angry at her shameless behavior. Amused by the creative way of winding out of her greatest weakness. But she couldn't carry those weights forever. Just how far was she willing to go for Yukimura's plead, who didn't suspect a thing either, thinking of her as just another boy?

"Puri," he snarled before making his way over to her. Her eyes widened briefly when she noticed him but mischief quickly settled in her gray orbs, grinning smugly despite the continuous fumbling around her neck. That Satsunomi had joined Akaya in inspecting the tightly strapped weights. His eyes glanced over her chest but it was firm, without a bulge. Either she was very flat to begin with or they were compressed very tightly.

"Everything alright?" She asked sweetly. He was damned if he would give her any credit to winning a point over the Data Master without taking off her weights once. That was secondary priority anyway.

Niou forced a strained smile. "Seems like you're after my Trickster title, deceiving us all like that." She caught on the word 'deceive', smug grin widening by a fraction. Never in his life had he felt more like punching a girl than in this very moment but he had another idea.

He turned her around so her back was to him, pushing the Junior Ace and Satsunomi out of the way and cupped her shoulders with his hands. They easily covered them. He felt goosebumps form underneath his touch and inwardly smirked. She couldn't completely turn off every reaction to such close proximity even if her face remained impassive. They all invaded her personal space after all.

He squeezed her shoulders experimentally. "But the only trick you could pull off is cosplaying as a _girl_. Just look at those shoulders." He felt her wince under his fingers and the inner smirk grew wider.

Then Minori looked up at him before shrugging. "It's no _secret _I look like one. I'm taking after mother." She showed off her body, earning confirming if not pitiful looks from the gathered mass that loosened from its initial shock after the regulars seemed not too angry at her act. Instead excited grins spread on the faces, the new information turning the tables even more than they already were. He clenched his teeth again at the way she so obviously reeled the guys in to freely stare at her but hid his emotions well enough.

She brushed him off entirely, slipping into the short-sleeved white shirt and buttoned it up calmly. "Then you should be called Mino_rin_. Dancing around like a little girl on the court," he imitated Marui's small dance that she'd obviously missed but some others hadn't, who in turn snickered lightly. No boy moved like that. Yagyuu stared at him curiously, able to read his ill temper. If only he knew why he was so truly focused on her. He had to keep the pressure going or she'd settle in faster than he would have liked, slipping out of his grasp.

Just as she was about to open her mouth, Satsunomi snipped his fingers. "I got one! _Danceresque! _Totally fancy!"

She snapped her head back to him, ignoring the trickster wholly. Now that would be her biggest mistake after disguising as a boy in the first place. He didn't take lightly to being ignored. "What the hell is that supposed to be now?"

He grinned happily. "'Dance' is American and you say '_esque' _a lot when you swear in French. _And _it was made up by a Japanese. I'm so ingenious!" What the hell was he blabbering about?

Minori's shoulders trembled slightly before she simply kicked him in the stomach that he buckled over. Even as he went down, he laughed merrily at the dangerous butch looming above him. "Your logic is beyond me," she groaned into her hand. "That's no real word, you idiot!"

Niou smirked behind her back. Then she would love the tactical pressure she was about to receive. Without a second glance at the odd duo, he left them to their business, mind occupied with rearranging his screwed-up plans. Her weekend would be restless, that much he'd make sure.

* * *

_Superfast update! 'The War' commences now. This is a little comedic relief beforehand.  
_

_For any wondering if some regulars are purposely ignored or will be in the future: No to both. Some will be featured more than others but all for a reason. Akaya is her classmate. Marui and Niou are her brother's classmates. Niou obviously knows about her little secret, which is why you will see his name often in the next chapters. People such as Yagyuu, Jackal or Sanada haven't got any real relation to Minori yet apart that she is in the same club. When she gets to be a regular that's gonna change dramatically. I can't wait for some Sanada action. :'D_


	9. Chapter 9

**I don't own Prince of Tennis.**

* * *

Her head dipped to the side repeatedly before she snapped her eyes open to stay awake, flaling her arms like a maniac. The chair slammed back to the ground. _Screw you, _she glared at the four-legged object beneath her. She'd almost fallen off again.

It was a wonderful day, really – right out the books. The sun shone brightly and not the slightest speck of a cloud could be sighted within miles, leaving the sky a shimmering blue. She was delirious with a victorious drunkenness, just waiting for the school week to finish and the long-awaited weekend to start. That silverfish couldn't do anything to her now, the way she'd beaten him at his own game. The changing rooms – her biggest obstacle – were cleared and no longer a threat.

Minori watched her class splash around in the pool on the roof top, nestling her head back on her pulled up knees. It was a rather tight and confining position on the few inches a simple chair offered but she hoped it would keep her awake for longer periods of time.

Since she was an aquaphobic, she acted as another pair of eyes watching over the class along with the teacher. Not that anybody expected much from her apart from attending the class. They considered her swimming skills to be non-existent, that the moment she touched the surface, she would sink like a stone to the ground out of fear and immobility.

Since she could not save anybody in case of emergency nor teach them some hidden strokes without looking too suspicious, it left her with a lot of waiting around. The warm sun glaring into her back therefore slowly lulled her back into sleep, her head dipping off to the side again.

"Uhm... Minori-kun?" Her eyes snapped open again, blinking until she spotted the girl in the dark blue bathing suit next to her chair.

"Huh?" she very intelligently got out before rubbing her eyes until she finally recognized the shy and rosy cheeks of her seating neighbor. "Present in a moment," She mumbled and yawned, stretching her arms that the joints popped before crossing her legs on the stool, resting them half-way on the armrests. She propped her elbows on her knees and rested her head on her palms. "What do you need, Chiaki-chan?"

Chiaki chuckled and shook her head at the show. The usual straight, black hair was pulled up in a stern bun to not get wet. Minori envied her a little for that long hair. All she could do was stuff hers with wax like every other Japanese guy on the street and she quickly grew tired of that.

Apparently it was the boys' turn to swim some rounds and the girls had a break, for they huddled together in small groups by the edges, encouraging the boys. Chiaki briefly glanced to where Minori's half-lidded eyes watched the breast-stroke race before she gathered up all her courage.

"Who gave you that new nickname?" Chiaki bluntly asked. Minori stared at her, unsure what exactly she meant. She was occasionally Foreigner-san to her English teacher in class for weeks already. She shifted uncomfortably, the moment of braveness passing as quickly as it had appeared. "M-Minorin."

"Ah." She raised her head in recognition. "Niou." She placed it back down on her hands.

How did she already know about that one? The small banter happened after training and it was the first class now, swim class out of all. No new rumors could spread _that _fast although she wouldn't put it past Japan. The country had surprised her since day one after all. Mistaking her for a boy, ha! Joke of the century gone wrong.

_Of course! _She thought as it clicked. Some tennis members had already called her like that in the hallways, ruffling her hair as Marui must have surely taught them. It did help them that they were easily taller then her. She'd just given them playful whacks, her mood rocketing through the roof as she noticed that nobody suspected anything after the brave scene in the changing rooms.

Chiaki winced as if struck by thunder. She bit her lip and fumbled nervously with her hands. Why was she so nervous? She was usually pretty collected around her. Maybe _Minori_, as in the guy she was, should stop staring at her like that, but she wasn't leering at the bathing suit but at her eyes. Since she was a female she wasn't particularly interested in the breastly anatomy of her female classmates.

She shrugged her shoulders, not seeing the harsh reaction worth it all. She tried to reassure her: "It's just one more letter. Don't see the damage."

Chiaki stopped fidgeting for one moment. "Well, it's usually a nickname for _girls. _And very close friends at that."

Since she was who she was, she caught onto the word most interesting. A girl nickname? Is that what Niou had in store for her all along? Well, that was a pretty pathetic plan then. They boys just went along with it nice and easy. "We're just... playing around. No big deal." She chuckled and waved it off. Maybe she'd just diffused the bomb better than he had anticipated. It was her luck Akaya was as dense as he was, not noticing anything wrong with her body.

Chiaki looked like she wanted to be swallowed by the earth right then and there, getting another harsh reaction. Her eyes darted up to Minori's frantically. "It _is _a big deal. There's some rumors-"

A shrill whistle called the girls back, break-time over and their turn to practice strokes. The slim girl frowned and looked back once when she got waved over, never quite finishing what she started.

* * *

Minori grumbled as she rounded the corner, rubbing her cheek as if there was still some paint on it. So she'd fully fallen asleep during swim class eventually. Of course some idiot decided to doodle on her face when the teacher didn't look. She still didn't know who but she'd spent a good amount of time getting the black ink off her face. Did she miss a Jigglypuff in her class somewhere? Not that she minded missing a good chunk of the boring swim class but spending it in the toilets wasn't exactly the best way to change that.

Her hand just pushed the door to the biology room open when she heard the newest battle cry. "Mi~no~RIN!" Just as the last syllable jingled, somebody latched itself on her back and she was sent flying through the door. It slammed open and they immediately crashed into something that it clanked and crashed loudly as they rolled around.

Minori rubbed her throbbing head, cursing fate for not allowing her any rest on the last freaking day of school. She was squished between two large objects, unable to move and barely to breathe. Cool softness beneath her face and heavy weight on top of her. Something soaked her pants and shoulder that it sent goosebumps all over her body.

"Sorry," Ryo said sheepishly before he heaved himself up and off her body. She heard him curse some gibberish, slightly amused to hear tiny bits of French amongst them.

Minori rubbed her throbbing head, arm finally freed to move and turned her head to see a drenched Ryo holding the ends of his school uniform. It clung to his body, the white shirt becoming transparent in places the water seeped in. Surprised gasps behind her told her that the rest of the class caught up quickly to the scene. She pushed herself up with the other arm only to freeze half-way through.

A lazy, silver-haired grin greeted her so mischievously that all previous thoughts on a happy weekend got eradicated.

"What are _you _doing here?" She asked him increduled, not in the least taken aback by the close proximity of their heads.

He chuckled, some water drops sliding down his cheek, racing past that mole of his. He drew a tongue out between his curved lips and caught some drops. "I volunteered to clean up. I never knew your class used this room afterward."

Minori turned to stone, undecided whether she should roll her eyes or snort at his obvious phrasing. He _definitely_ knew. 100% sure of that. The Data-Master would be proud of that calculating look in the trickster's eyes.

Just what was he still after? She'd shown him how unafraid she was. There wasn't much he could threaten her with apart from the changing rooms and maybe ripping her clothes off her body in front of the whole school. He wouldn't do latter; he was just too playful and strategic for that.

She pushed herself into a sitting position and froze on his knees at the feeling engulfing her. "It's getting see-through," he whispered before casually getting up, offering her a hand with long, lean fingers. She glanced down at her shirt before she kamikaze-like jumped on top of Ryo, who staggered wildly.

"You, sir, will carry me to the janitor now," she muttered grimly.

"Why?!" He called out, so similar to Akaya that she almost could have mistaken him for the banshee-in-training. Despite his words, he hooked his hands beneath her knees to steady her on his wet back.

She smiled sweetly at him, the smile a strain on her face the more she felt his drenched shirt soak hers further. "We have to get dry uniforms because _you _bastard jumped into me." Niou chuckled madly. The class 2-D squeezed in the door frame to look but nobody dared enter the room where a giant water bomb just might have exploded. A silver bucket lay innocently by the feet of a gaping Chiaki. _First r__umors, now this._ She had a feeling something bad would bode out of this._  
_

This bastard had planned it. Planned to do something if not this exact thing, however implausible it was. Her mind went red in warning. She didn't wear the weights, since only the regulars had practice on Fridays. All she had were the bandages and if they were to be seen she was dead. Transparency was a simple trick he cooked up.

She kicked her human-horse. "Now, go! Repent for what you've done!" Ryo half grumbled, half laughed and started to move but they were quickly interrupted.

"Nobody goes anywhere, Kobayashi-kun, Satsunomi-kun," a voice rolled their names off darkly. They turned mechanically to see the middle-aged woman that was their biology teacher push her glasses up higher that it glinted dangerously. She pointed a thickly ringed finger at the puddle beneath their feet. "Who would like to explain this mess to me?"

Why always her?

* * *

She twirled her pen between the fingers when she heard the faintest whisper of her name. With a glance at the teacher still busy writing a mathematical formula on the chalkboard, she turned to look over her shoulder with the fresh and dry shirt giving her security back.

Akaya leaned down his desk _totally inconspicuous_, wiggling a folded piece of paper in his hand. He nudged her with his eyes and she patted Chiaki on the shoulder, who startled out of her seat with a tiny gasp.

She hadn't wanted to continue what she'd started earlier that morning, shaking her head as she told her - him, Minori - that she would find out on her own very soon. Apparently she had her ways into getting into the rumor mill without ever planning to. Minori nudged the girl in Akaya's direction. Chiaki turned around and quickly snatched the paper from him, sitting closer to him than Minori to make the sneaky procedure incognito.

She passed the paper to Minori who curiously folded it open. Her eyes widened at what she read.

_I drew on you, you drooling idiot. Whatcha gonna do now? _She huffed her cheeks, whipping her head back to see a grinning Akaya sitting a little too straight in his seat, watching the teacher with his full attention anywhere but the chalkboard in reality.

She took up the pen and tore a piece from her page, scribbling her answer on it. _You bastard! _With another glance at the teacher's back, she threw it at him, not bothering to go the long way over Chiaki.

Akaya cursed quietly when it bounced off his forehead, hands dancing around in the air to catch the escaping paper. He slammed his fist onto the table the moment the teacher turned around, suspicious about the sounds. The last two rows behaved as if nothing unusual happened, almost comically cocking their brows back at the teacher and his book in hands.

A snipped of paper braked by her pen. _Why am I the bastard now?  
_

She immediately countered, eager to get a distraction in the boring, quiet class. _That ink was really hard to wash off, idiot! _She flicked it over her head and it landed in his lap.

The answer got stuck in her hair. _Why are you taking it out on me, crybaby? _

Rip. _That's what you call revenge. _She shot it sharply back.

Rip._ But I didn't do it! __Stop attacking me!_

Rip._ You just told me you did!_

Rip._ Why would I tell you that?!_

Rip. _Because you're stupid! Why would I know?!_ She ripped another, doubling her assault. _REVENGE!_

"Would you mind telling me what the two of you are so fervently arguing about, Kobayashi-kun and Kirihara-kun?" She froze with her arm mid-air. Little balls of paper and strips pooled around her. Well, that was just marvelous.

* * *

The tip of the brush followed a pre-drawn line, hiding the thin lead pencil underneath creamy black color. Minori didn't leave her eyes off the paper, not wanting to ruin the picture any further than it already was. Art wasn't exactly one of her strongest points. And she wasn't particularly paying attention with all the things going on over the course of the day.

"I still don't get Fujioka's intentions. We barely talk!" She mumbled with an annoyed frown, pulling the brush back to safety and out of range of any paper strewn across the pushed together tables. She shot the lanky boy in her class a look, taking in his cropped hair and casual laughter on the other side of the room but still not understanding _a goddamn thing._

A quiet growl was her initial answer before he decided to talk to her, clearly annoyed that she picked the topic up again. It didn't help his mood that they had double the homework to present in front of the class because of their mini-war. "_Shut up. _He passed me that damn paper and I passed it to you. Maybe somebody passed it to _him_ first. I didn't pay any attention." Not that anybody paid much attention in math.

She shut her mouth, brows still furrowed. If Akaya didn't doodle on her – which he'd vehemently and _loudly _denied afterward – and Fujioka was just another boy passing the paper around through class... who was the culprit? She shook her head as a rat-tail danced through her mind. He couldn't have a hand in this. This was her own class they were talking about. He couldn't have any influence on what was happening inside it.

It wasn't the doodling she was particularly mad about but the way the culprit provoked her further. Or rather, drew others into the mess, making her believe it was Akaya and ultimately earning the two a punishment. Her the second one in a day.

...He couldn't really have a hand in this now, could he?

The punished trio continued to work in concentrated silence. The 'boys' usually sat together in art class, where everybody could sit however they liked as long as they moved the tables and chairs back properly. She and Ryo half-stood, looming over the large paper of their self-portraits, while Akaya slouched with the brush in a death grip.

A whistle snapped her and Akaya's head up to him. "I" he delicately held up his paper, "am so drop-dead sexy." A smeared mess of yellow and black greeted them, small dots as eyes looking up at them, long curvy lines batting their lashes. Ryo beamed at his masterpiece, happiness so palpable all the while looking like a panda bear with his bruised eye.

Minori and Akaya doubled over in laughter, the dark cloud between them lifting at the ridiculous sight. She picked up the brush between giggles and dipped it into the purplish black color he'd managed to mix for his hair. "You're still missing this!" With shaking fingers she drew a long, totally racist chin beard dangling down. Akaya bawled.

Real life Ryo drove his fingers down his imaginary beard, giving his friends the best impression of an old Asian man he could muster up. He started ranting at her for racism and lack of respect towards her elders. She chuckled madly at his authenticity, grabbing the large bottle of red color and uncorking it with a plopping sound to continue on her own mixture of colors.

She held it close to her body while she squeezed it with both hands. The color wouldn't get out. She hit the bottle a few times that the color would reach the open end and squeezed again. Red oozed in a small explosion out and onto her mix plate - but also her uniform.

Her lips trembled. "You've got to be kidding me." Red dripped down in long streaks over her pants and shirt, splashing into the floor where it could not find a hold on her clothes.

Ryo inspected the red bottle, pointing at a cut hole in the side where creamy streams of red oozed out. "Did you anger a ghost?" He snickered.

"OI, FUJI-" Akaya slammed his fist into the table but she clawed her hand deep into his shoulder that the rest of the sentence got caught with a whimper in his throat.

"It wasn't him," she growled with lowered eyes, her bangs hiding them from view and casting a shadow over them. Her whole body trembled. No matter how illogical it sounded, there was only one possible solution for this roller coaster of a day.

_Niou._

* * *

She put her hair up in a practical bun and glanced at her watch when the door fell shut. She turned on her heel. "Welcome ho- _merde, _don't tell me that's another tennis match?!"

Toshio snorted at their mother's reaction before he threw his book-heavy bag on the floor. Minori followed his example, already heading up the stairs into the bathroom with exhausted and grumpy steps. Sylvie Kobayashi stared aghast at the retreating back of her daughter, a crusty red glinting on her pant leg every so often before she disappeared out of sight.

"Don't worry. Just an art accident this time." Toshio gave her a toothy grin in his most handsome son-way. A door clicked close and the faint sound of water rushing down the shower followed quickly after. And something that sounded suspiciously like a head pounding against a wall but she could have just imagined that.

She brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face. There was something about her childrens' behavior that irked her motherly instincts, the part of her that didn't want to disturb her children out of fear to make it worse. "No bugging her?" He shook his head with another snort.

"Tough week," he curtly answered and went over to the kitchen, hungry as a lion.

She cocked her head, getting the feeling that he hid something from her but she complied with a shrug. She had to hurry to her shift now anyway. One day she'd give them rest, then professionally extract their secret out of them. That motherly instict only ever so briefly overshadowed her insatiable curiosity.

She chuckled to herself as she slipped into her shoes. The whole misunderstanding was so much fun.

* * *

_I always want to say something extraordinary down here but when I finally get to write the note, I always forget. Meh.  
_

_As you can see I've changed the cover but I'm still looking for another one fitting to the story. I want warm colors but can't quite find the right picture for this sort of tale, with a girl-disguised-as-boy playing tennis. Hrm. I've also gone back through the chapters and revised them a little, subtle details at best to correct the flow of the story. Nothing major or plot-tweaking, don't worry. If I find the time I'll correct every 'mum' to 'mom' since that is the proper American way (And Kobayashi-Family living in America beforehand, you get the point)._

_Adieu and until next time!_


	10. Chapter 10

**I don't own Price of Tennis.**

**Also beware: lots of random suffixes, nicknames and overall crippled names incoming for your amusement. Enjoy the ride.  
**

* * *

Her room was painted in gray shadows even with the few morning rays sneaking their way past the shutter. Minori cuddled with her blanket, a small smile playing around her lips. Glourious weekend, thou have finally come to save your poor sheep from despair. Maybe a little exaggerated and too much Ryo, but to her it was the best day of the week.

Yes, it was finally Saturday.

But the serenity of that realization didn't last for very long.

The door to her room was flung open that it crashed into the wall. She startled from her position, flailing her trapped arms around uselessly. A leg stuck out from the door frame before it slammed into the ground after it had kicked the obstacle that was her door open. Taking a step forward, Toshio came in and she cursed relieved. For his usual zombie mode he still held too much energy in the morning. He merely threw something at her with a grunt and slouched out again.

Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she fumbled for the object in the blankets. She placed his mobile phone next to her ear. "Yes?" She croaked out.

_"Your brother is so not a morning person," _Marui's voice came through the speaker.

She cleared her throat and managed a snort. "He just karate-kicked my room open. No, he isn't." A yawn left her lips and she rubbed her eyes. "Whaddya want from him?" She slurred out.

_"He told me to wake him up. We got a math test on monday." _Ah, right. She remembered him saying something along the lines of his demon teacher spontanously throwing out tests. She heard clothes rustle on Marui's end before he continued. _"I'm seriously scared to come over now. I mean, did you _hear _him?"_

As if waiting for it Toshio stumbled back into the room, groaning like a stranded whale as he sprawled himself over her carpet with his bare chest. She barely shot him a glance. "I live with him. It's totally safe if you leave him be for half an hour." She cuddled back into her blanket and closed her eyes, relishing in the warmth covering her again. She put Marui on speakers and placed the phone next to her pillow. "You on your way already?"

More rustling of clothes and the sound of a zipper. _"Ya, I'm changing. I'm meeting up with Niou by the train station, then we'll come over together." _Toshio growled loudly into the carpet, successfully distracting her from the image of Marui's half-naked body talking to her. _"...What's he doing?"_

She opened one lid and watched the curly mess of a head bare it's teeth like an angry dog. "Called you bubblegum-face." Minori shrugged into her blankets.

_"Bubblegum-face, that bastard- Wait, you understand him?!"_

"I told you I live with him." She frowned and eventually grimaced as something clicked lazily in her sleepy mind. "Niou's coming,_ too?_"

Marui laughed at the distaste she couldn't stop from entering her voice. _"Why so unhappy, Minorin-chaaaan? Don't you get along well?" _Somehow her name got even further crippled. If that wasn't girly she didn't know. Not that she bothered since it didn't have the effect it should have.

"Have my reasons, bubblegum-face," she mumbled.

_"Even you?!"_

"Especially me." She sighed. Why couldn't she even rest for one day? "Just get your asses over here." With that she hung up and pulled her legs up to her chest beneath the blankets. Maybe she shouldn't even go down and just lay in bed until they left. That way she could still have some peace left over.

How much time passed, she didn't know but eventually Toshio rolled over to her like a long piece of baguette, stopping so that he faced her. Minori merely looked down over his grounded form, patiently waiting for some sort of sound again. He clicked his tongue and groaned, stretching his arms this time around before they plopped back down limblessly. She turned her back to him, intent to stretch her minutes in bed as long as she could. "Don't know when they'll arrive. They're your classmates."

One of his hands grasped her by the shoulder and turned her around. This boy was seriously screwed up in the mornings. But some time must have passed if his lush lips finally managed to form the first coherent words of the day. "You're a girl... still..."

Minori blinked at him. Then her body shot up rigidly and her hands flew to her breasts.

_Shit!  
_

* * *

When the bell rang, Minori rested her exhausted head and body on the dining table in the kitchen. Her mouth endlessly gathered water at the delicious smells coming from the frying pan. She barely picked her head up off the table to say her piece of mind. "I'm so not gonna open that door."

Toshio drove a hand through his tamed curls but refrained from emitting any other ungrateful sounds. She'd bite his head off if he did after all the trouble. "Fine. You gotta finish the crêpes, though." She nodded and wobbled her way to the oven, replacing his place as he went out of the kitchen. Quickly after she heard the very familiar voices of his classmates and her tennis mates exchanging greetings. An annoyed sigh escaped her. Seriously, that silver-haired bastard just had to invade her personal space however he pleased. He was damn persistent, that much she'd give him.

She rolled the too large sleeves of the red sweater she'd borrowed from Toshio in her hurry up as she turned the crêpe in the frying pan. Barely fifteen minutes before she'd laid in her bed. Then with Toshio preoccupying bath to get some sort of sense back into his head she'd been runinng all over the house.

Hiding every last picture of her.

It was a miracle mom hadn't woken up from all the noise she'd caused. She'd cursed, tripped and slammed into all sorts of objects and walls. Now, expecting some sort of visit from their classmates had been incorporated into her crossdressing plans. But she hadn't expected anybody this early and to be left alone with all the work. As long as they didn't enter her room - where she'd sloppily hid the few framed pictures - she was okay.

"Eh? Minori's cooking?" The voice sent angry sparks all over her body. After yesterday she was pumped with overexcessive anger - which she hadn't yet been able to release.

Minori turned around with a bright grin. "Would you like some?" she asked sweetly.

Niou tucked his hands away in the pockets of his dark jeans with a large grin. Black clubs printed the white middle of his T-Shirt and zippers diagonally divided the white from the red color of one of his short sleeves and a partially end of shirt. A gold studded heavy belt rounded up his handsome looks. Outside school he was quite something else, with a good fashion sense as plus, but everything still screamed 'swindler' to her. Overexcessive anger, don't forget.

He took a few steps closer until he leaned over her head to inspect the piling stack on the plate and the new sizzling bit in the frying pen. "Smells delicious." He placed an arm around her shoulder lazily. His lips brushed her ear lobe. "You would make a wonderful _wife,_" he whispered so quickly she almost didn't catch it, snapping his head up again as if nothing had happened.

Her fake grin didn't falter a bit. "I better place some poison in. Those compliments are too much for me to take." He answered her with a sweet, fake smile of his own.

"Are you two tricksters conspiring something together?" Marui sneaked by her open right side, sniffing and ogling the food himself. His striped shirt was loose, almost dangling off one of his shoulders as he did so but his hair was as fiery and full as always. His eyes widened when he looked at her for real.

"Don't," she warned. Of course that wouldn't stop him.

He broked out in laughter, holding onto the fridge behind him like his dear life depended on it. "You look so horrible, _ahahaha,_" just as quickly as he spoke the words he lost it again, unable to contain his laughter at the straight face she gave him in annoyance. Pulling over a sweater didn't account for beauty but sure as hell did its job for disguise.

She turned off the oven just as she fished out the last crêpe. "Toshio." She stood on her toes to get another plate and stole some of the crêpes off the fuller plate to place them on her empty one. "They're all yours. I'm eating upstairs. Have fun _l-e-a-r-n-i-n-g._" The boy in disguise coolly saluted that the too large sleeve whipped over her head. She wouldn't be down here when she could hide and have a relaxed day without worries or (verbal) battles with Niou.

Marui ruffled her hair. "You cheeky little...!" he laughed.

"He sure is," Toshio agreed from his position by the half-steps dividing the kitchen and living room. Then he accusingly pointed a finger at her opening the fridge. "Oi! Leave me my apple sauce!"

Minori merely wickedly grinned and closed her fingers around the jar. "Mine." Then she proudly strode past him and went back to her room.

* * *

With Toshio hungrily mowing through his foods, the boys gathered around the couch table and spread their papers for learning all over it. Niou had to admit that he was slightly disappointed of his visit. There was just something missing when he couldn't at least tease the 3rd-year's sister. The timing of the math test had come so perfectly, allowing him to further pressure and annoy her. But it was still a foreign household and it left him with a limited number of aces up his sleeves. He wouldn't risk angering their parents uselessly when he could avoid it.

Sure, he could get a glimpse of the house she lived. And he was dead-set on somehow getting into her room. Still, he'd hoped for her to linger about like an angry tiger but she'd completely withdrawn herself. She'd earned this pressure after uttering that obvious challenge with the changing rooms and he was intent on keeping his pace. But even as another hour passed and they were fully immersed in learning, she hadn't emerged yet. Complete and sheer ignorance wasn't what he'd expected after putting her through all of that the day before. It tugged a string inside his mind that didn't sound pleased at the current events but he brushed the feeling aside.

Since math was his forte and the idiot's next to him were preoccupied with a task he'd set them, he was the first to notice the quiet creaking of a door. His head snapped up, hoping to greet the sleepy Minori with her hair sticking to all sides and the bare feet making her way down the stairs with a cheeky line. Yet the person came from next to the stairs, the door closing in behind them.

He immediately froze.

A woman almost his height walked up to them, her honey hair braided in a loose braid over her shoulder. Gray eyes so familiar to the pair he'd come to know sparkled with curiousity as she took their appearances in and her pink lips curled into a smile. The resemblance was astonishing. All but for the hair color she looked like a taller and matured version of a certain 2nd year and Niou inadvertedly gulped at the sight, his mind blank of any mischievious thoughts for once.

"So you're the two early birds throwing those two out of their beds," she chuckled and crossed her arms over the pale blue dress.

Toshio looked up with a frown as he finally noticed her arrival. "You've been awake all the time?"

"'Course. Minori stomped around like an elephant and you crushed into the bathtub like a walrus." She nonchalantly looked over the boys. "Where's the elephant?"

"Upstairs, frolicking with his flock of blankets, I guess." Niou caught up again at the male distinction. He was used to Toshio talking like that but to imagine their mother doing so along was surprising. She didn't even flinch once as she continued their casual banter.

She knelt down next to the learning boys. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw that Marui was just as stunned by her appearance as he was. "I guess I'll eat my breakfast in the wildlife, then get him out of his cave again." Without further warning she pointed at him, "Niou-kun." Then she pointed at the red-head to his right. "Marui-kun."

They both nodded and half-bowed their heads, unsure how to greet the woman after the sudden and unusual appearance. Toshio took it to himself to do so and pointed his hands, palms up, towards his mother. "We're foreigners. We don't do courtesy well." She pouted childishly but he continued regardless. "That's my mother. Sylvie Kobayashi," he opened up for a polite introduction.

Niou nodded. "Niou Masaharu," he courtly said with a real bow this time around.

Marui followed his example. "Marui Bunta. Nice to meet you."

She beamed. "Finally some faces to the names." With the grin still in place, she turned her head to her son. "Bubblegum-face and Tuna were really not descriptive at all."

...Tuna?

* * *

Just as Minori turned to the other side in her bed, the door was flung open for the second time that morning. Seriously, it was barely past eleven. Normally the usual time to wake up and have breakfast but she'd been screwed over that time schedule already.

"_Quel jolis garçons!" _Her mother squealed in delight after the door clicked close behind her. Minori slammed her palm into her forehead. She didn't need to be reminded of their good looks. She saw them often enough as it was – even half naked, now that she picked up on the weights. "Ah, so you hid the pictures here."

Minori turned around and watched her mother place down the trail with some crêpes on the small couch in her room. Having no closet in her room but a walkable one right next to it, just opposite the stairs really allowed some luxuries inside her room. Even if the closet was small and shared between her and her brother and some random stuff, she appreciated it greatly. While Toshio got the computer, she got the small TV and the mentioned couch on which another of Toshio's sweaters sloppily hid the framed pictures that had hung downstairs.

Mom picked the bundle up and placed it beneath her blanket, right next to her feet but not before hugging one. Must've been the family photo with Dad on it. She sure missed the man dearly already.

She plopped down on the couch and snacked on the food, her arm thrown over the back lean to look at her daughter. "Aren't you happy I forced you to become a boy? Just look at them! It's a gender-bender story becoming true~" There it was. The manga-lover came out.

"Only that Niou knows already and is planning to blow my cover," she sighed and sat up, blowing her hair out of her eyes. Then she realized what she'd said.

"Ho? So Tuna-kun knows. I knew you two were hiding something from me." Minori cursed silently. They'd wanted to deal with it themselves but now her failure had slipped. Wait what...

"Tuna?"

Mom licked over her fingers after she finished the first crêpe, then went for the next. "That's how Toshio described him to me. Now that I think about it, maybe to spite him because he knows your secret. Then again, Marui-kun is bubblegum-face although he is innocent. I've heard that particular nickname from _you_ all morning." Minori blinked perplexed, then chuckled madly.

"You should be a detective or psychologist," Minori said and swung her legs out of bed. No need to try sleeping any longer.

"Sure should. I sicced them on Toshio by saying those names out _aloud._ Then I escaped." Her shoulders trembled as laughter threatened to take over. "You should have seen their faces." She wiped a tear from the corner of her eyes. "Beautiful."

And this was coming from her mother. A grown-up adult with a job, a house, a family.

She ate in silence and eventually placed the emptied plate on hers on the desk. "You scared off going down because of him?" She suddenly asked her daughter.

Minori shook her head. "Just annoyed. I know he's trying to do something. Niou is a clever bastard."

Mom hummed in thought but a smile quickly crept up on her face. "This is our kingdom. He'll get caught in our pace, dear. Not the other way around." She planted a kiss on her forehead. "Now wash up. I feel as pumped as Hannibal and his elephants." With the dirty plates in her hands she stormed out of the room and left a puzzled person back.

Just what did elephants have to do with anything now?

* * *

**A few hours later.**

* * *

"Minori..." Toshio drawled out.

"Mh?" She managed through stuffed cheeks.

"Give me back my classmate."

Marui grinned like an idiot at the mention of him, stuffing another marshmallow in his mouth. It wasn't her fault that the repeating of Anime episodes she'd missed over the week were aired now and she, Marui and her mother were glued to the TV. She didn't know which one of them was more enthralled although her bet would still and forever be her own mom.

The red-head pulled her playfully closer with one arm. "Rinrin-chan and Bunbun are taking a break." She laughed breathlessly at the ridiculous names. This was the result of the combined effort of the Kobayashi family taking down each and every polite barriers as well as trapping Niou's every word in his mouth.

Although the two Japanese guests had almost fully reverted to their usual personalities, the fun still lay in the moment of respect they had to show a certain Sylvie Kobayashi. While on the other hand said woman riled up her own children against each other so much, the boys fell over in laughter, not hiding their mischievious joy they got out of it. Really, her mom was like a puppeteer even while dangling her legs off the armrest on the armchair, singing along a merry opening song.

It was as though they treated them as another part of their family, not as mere friends and classmates. That is what placed the greatest joy but also the greatest confusion on their faces. To Minori it was the easiest way to behave however she liked without any worries. To Niou it was giving up for the progressing day on getting a reaction out of her. She'd seen it in the way he shook his head and mumbled something about foreigners.

Victory.

Minori nodded fervently. "You still have Haru-pyon, Toshishi-_nii,_" she addressed her brother and pointed at the silver-haired boy. The further distorted nicknames had just developed somewhere along the lines in a friendly fire of polite insults. Niou had his hand over his face and shook it at the childish behavior but she swore she saw him laugh behind his long fingers. If he weren't as intent to expose her, they could get along quite well from what she'd seen of him.

"Math is a lost cause now, right?" Toshio asked and propped his head on his hand. The two still sat on the carpet.

Niou stretched his arms above his head. "The rest is up to you. No more teaching for me today."

Watching him do that, the words left her lips before she even thought it through. "You're going already?" she asked disappointed.

He blinked at her but before he answered, another voice cut through. "No going before you eat my special French dinner, boys. I won't allow that." Mom didn't even look at them, waving her hand in the general direction with eyes still glued to the flashing TV screen.

Niou grinned widely and shrugged his shoulder. Their eyes locked in amusement at the small ceasefire falling down upon them. "I guess I'm staying then."

* * *

_I'm a chapter-10-phobic. I deeply believe so. Yet, I have overcome it now and present to you the newest, crazy update to Secrets of Glory!_

_Thank you for all the hits, favs, follows and reviews so far - and of course, keep on doing and rocking like that! I'm so happy this is so well-received so far. Regarding Niou's outfit - it's literally a google click away if you type in his name. It's in the gallery of the PoT-Wiki if you do not manage to find it and is probably one of his more famous outfits. Dunno._

_**"Quel jolis garçons!" **- "What good-looking boys!" - I have to say, though, that my French is limited to basics and I've translated this with more luck than knowledge. If any of you is French or very good at it - I **will **need your help in the future. :'D  
_


	11. Chapter 11

**I don't own Prince of Tennis.**

* * *

_That bastard!_

She groaned for the umpteenth time that morning. Not even one single second of a break did he give her. Ceasefire, my ass. Apparently that was only restricted to the four walls marking her own home. Should she have been this surprised? Hadn't she learned better by now?

Apparently not.

Maybe she should feel good about the little things she got. At least she was certain he only wanted to annoy her in school and not at home, where mommy Kobayashi held the regency. But seriously. This was just unnerving.

The current predicament she was stuck in was quite simple really. Unexpected, yes. Looking idiotic, yes. A pain in the ass - _god_, yes!

Minori was currently very busy pulling at the glued on shoes in her shoe box with all her might.

She grit her teeth and grimaced but they wouldn't budge. If she hadn't checked twice she would have thought they were nailed to the bloody thing. She planted her feet on the other rows of shoe boxes and bulged all the muscles in her arms. _Come on! _Then she slipped off and stumbled and rolled all over the ground until she hit somebody's legs.

Toshio blinked perplexedly at her.

Gray eyes twitched in annoyance at the tall and confused sibling towering above her. "Tell him that I hope the math test strangles him," she growled. This was the start to a long and exhausting day, she just knew.

* * *

By the start of second break, she wondered how much more damage her body and mind could take and seriously considered taking some days off.

"Two buckets of water, a banana, one tripping..." Ryo briefly paused in counting with his fingers, looking over her hunched form hiding her face on Akaya's table, "and about ten girls braiding your hair," he concluded. She winced at the memory.

Akaya delicately picked up one of the many tiny braids in the boy's thick hair, ogling the handiwork of the girls. He heard them giggling in their corner as they watched the trio gathered by his table. "That was so scary," he gulped. He'd seen fangirls in action. But the fiery gleam their eyes had held when they pulled the poor boy in their midst was something competing even with his Devil mode.

"I really should take some days off," Minori mumbled to nobody in particular as she eventually got up and started untangling the mess on her head. Ryo reached out to help her. She nodded humbly in thanks.

"You think it was Fujioka again?" Akaya scanned the classroom for the boy but couldn't spot him anywhere. "Want me to teach him a lesson?" he asked with a wicked grin and his eyes lit up.

Minori rolled hers. "I told you already it wasn't him. _Ouch,_" she hissed when Ryo's fingers tangled and pulled to tightly on her roots. She bat his fingers away but after a few seconds he dared another attempt at helping. With a raised brow she allowed him the second chance. "I'm touched you care for me, though." She patted the curly boy's head before returning to her lengthy task. Already her arms felt heavy from holding them up the whole time to unknot the braids. Those girls were masters in their profession.

He crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks exaggerated. "I'm worried for _me. _The prefecturals are next week. If I get another punishment, Sanada-fukubuchou will _tarundarou _me to death." His face paled slightly at the thought. Minori merely cocked her head, not quite understanding where his sudden fear was coming from.

"That's why I'm here, you guys! I'll protect you both with my life!" Ryo exclaimed and rose to stand, hand placed over his heart - and tore and tugged at her hair in the dramatic process again.

Minori released an angry and pained swell of curses until the boy finally let go. "You _catch_ the water buckets next time. _And don't go near my hair again._" A woman's pride and a woman's pain. Only her fingers were fine and experienced enough to work through them.

He chuckled sheepishly as he sat down. "I'll try my best next time." He'd actually successfully intercepted both of the water assaults with the reflexes of a cornered animal. It was remarkable, really. Yet the second time around he managed to literally kick the second bucket away like the ninja he was... hitting a teacher square in the face.

Detention count Kobayashi-Satsunomi pair: 2 planned this week alone already.

Again his fingers reached for another braid but she snapped after them that they shot back to its owner. "You look just like Akaya now," he grinned. She shot the mentioned boy a deadpan face when his hand picked up a curled up end of an untangled strand, comparing it to his own.

"But if it's not Fujioka, who else is doing this? I have to be prepared to guard you," Ryo mused out of the blue.

She briefly paused in what she was doing to gawk at him. She hadn't even considered telling anybody apart from her brother about her predicament but the idea struck a pleasant cord in her brain. It could turn out useful to have some more allies.

The longer she thought about the more she liked the idea.

When she didn't answer immediately, he continued his musings. "You do have the ability to get into all sorts of situations..." he trailed off when she did lean in closer and whispered the answer in his ear. His eyes widened in realization. Minori nodded but placed a finger over her lips to keep him quiet.

"Eh? Who is it?" Akaya's head jumped left and right between the two, fingers still occupied with Minori's freed hair. Ryo mouthed a silent 'why me' towards her to which she just grinned.

"Try your best next time, right?" She quoted and punched his arm lightly, ignoring Akaya wholly.

He nearly teared up at the prospect of guarding her against the master of all evil but gulped it down in manly pride. "I will..." _sign my death,_ she mentally concluded but was happy nonetheless. This unexpected alliance brightened her otherwise exhausting day. After all Niou held advantages of all sorts over her. This was just what she needed to counter the hell he placed her through.

A grim smile played around her lips. _I'm prepared for anything you can cook up. _Minori glanced over to the angry pair of green eyes still jumping back and forth between the newest front built. Maybe she should include him in the war, too?

She stared at him until he burst again. "Come on, tell me already!" Akaya cried out frustrated and slammed his palms into the table.

She cracked a tired but happy grin. _Nah. Too much fun to tease._

* * *

Niou nibbled on the tip of his pen. This wasn't good.

Sparing the patrolling teacher barely a glance, he quickly peeked over his shoulder towards the windows. Toshio sat hunched over his test, heavy curls framing his thoughtful face. The trickster repeated the words the male had told him right before the test over and over again.

_He leaned in close with half a grin, half a stern look. Niou chuckled. It was fun seeing the brother struggle for the sake of his sister, although he was actually quite fond of the people he fought against. "She hopes the math test strangles you," he whispered with a playful grin._

_Niou rose his brows and leaned in close as well. Their hair mingled and to the others it looked like they cooked up some plan right before the big test. The math book lay between them, although not at all the topic of this conversation. "And why is that? I didn't do anything yet." Not that he hadn't planned something for the morning but even he had prioritized some last minute preparations for the test rather than preparing the next trap to ensnare her. He had all the time in the world throughout the day - and after school, of course. The last thought brought a smile on his lips.  
_

_Cocking his head, Toshio answered with mild confusion. "The glued on shoes in her box? It was Excalibur all over again to get them off."_

_"That wasn't me," Niou immediately shot back, his smile faltering. Maybe the visit on Saturday had softened his resolve towards hiding his intentions in front of the brother-spy but it gnawed at him to be suspected of something he wasn't part of. And the coincidence that it involved the girl-in-disguise made it all the worse._

_Toshio looked at him unbelieving. "Who else then?"_

Who else indeed. He turned his attention back on the partially filled out piece of paper in front of him. He couldn't help the feeling that something bad was about to happen. Maybe it was just coincidence; maybe his comrades in this crime had taken some liberties. He would have to talk to Fujioka in particular. The boy was the closest to Minori and already suspected by - of all people - Akaya to be behind the crimes. Which was right partially. How else could he have access to the art room and even his class?

Still, the feeling that there was something out of control in his carefully balanced web left him restless.

This wasn't good at all.

* * *

Akaya rested his tired body with both arms on the shoe boxes, mulling over what sins he'd done in his previous lifes that earned him this bad luck.

Why was he here out of all people? Somebody care to explain? Why had he befriended the transfer student at all?

Minori clutched his throat in a death throttle and his legs were firmly latched around his waist. There was no getting him off either. He'd tried repeatedly; like a beast being cornered he'd reacted violently after he'd leaped onto him. But the damn bastard just wouldn't let him have his peace!

"Let go! I told you I'm not gonna 'protect' you, so don't use me as a mule," he growled in remembrance to the strange vow Ryo had undertaken. Whatever had the boy this startled had to do with another sort of prank again. It just had to. Some sort of demon apparently targeted him - and no, it wasn't the Junior Ace.

Vehement shaking into his shoulder was the only answer he received. "Why did I let Ryo leave to fetch his stupid bag... I wasn't prepared _at all,_" Minori on his back mumbled. "You at least gotta keep me company until he returns. Be a friend, you heartless bastard!"

"I'm just honest!" he cried out and tried throwing the brown-haired boy off but that intensified his grip on his neck only further, almost choking him. "You're doing this on purpose!" he squeezed out.

The weight on his back shifted and he could feel his nose and cheek bury deeper into his shoulder blade with the smile he cracked. "Never, Mr. 6-0," he jingled. Normally that was enough to incite an angry fire in him but instead a shiver went down his spine when Minori adjusted into a more comfortable position again.

He glanced down at his hands. He clearly remembered the feel of his skin and how fragile his shoulders looked in the changing rooms, especially with the strapped on weights. No boy should be that girlish. It was plain _weird. _Another shiver followed the first. This had to stop!

He glanced at the open shoe box two rows away from his. Akaya looked left and right but they were alone. He _really _didn't want to die under the vice-captain's glare if he got caught into something with the foreigner again. He attracted all sorts of danger. That's why he didn't want to 'protect' him. But he had to admit that he felt a little jealous of Ryo because of that newest status. The Junior Ace didn't want to be left out of the loop that blatantly. Eventually he sighed.

"_Fine. _I'll help you this once."

After a brief pause Minori raised a finger in the open shoe box's direction. Yes, the source of all evil this time around. For all he knew there could be a bomb hiding in it but despite not wanting to, he crept closer to it, brushing the mental image of a fuming Sanada far away.

He inspected the insides cautiously. A pair of sneakers. So far so good.

He looked left and right. No bomb, no monster, nothing clawing at his face. "It's... safe?" Again the shaking of a head. Akaya felt his fingers curl into angry fists but then something caught his attention. He reached inside the box but before he could even withdraw his hand, Minori jumped off his back and slammed into the opposite side of rowed shoe boxes.

Gray eyes blinked up at him. He blinked back. Blink. Blink. Blink.

"You're scared of spiders, too?"

His lips quivered and the gray orbs shifted warily over the black, eight-legged insect resting in his palm. "Just place it somewhere outside," he said strained, clearly frightened. The eyes jumped back up to him. "Don't even think about doing something stupid. You wanted to help me yourself. Your risk."

Akaya grinned like an idiot but decided against pressing his luck. Instinctively he asked the first thing that came to his mind. "Does anybody know you're scared of spiders?" Minori shook his head.

"And don't let anybody know!" he exclaimed. It was sorta funny with the half-perm on his head, the shifting eyes and the way his knees were bent to be ready to run off.

With a big grin still in place, Akaya walked over to the large doors, pushed them open and set the spider free. It immediately crawled off in direction of the next best tree. Somehow he earned his own little secret now. At least this once, helping him was worth the danger.

He froze at the cheerful feeling spreading through his body.

Wait! _This had to stop!_

* * *

Her hair stuck to all sides, still curly from the tight braids. She rested her elbows on her knees and watched the ball whiz left and right. Haruma next to her did the same, his head barely moving as he did so. The two of them sat on the bench by the field, waiting for their turn to play.

She really didn't feel like having training at all.

How had that piece of Tuna managed to bribe the girls into braiding her hair? How had he so perfectly sneaked a spider into her shoe locker? It must have been a guess on his part; that girls were scared of spiders. Nobody knew of it yet. Sadly, it was the truth for her.

Minori was just glad he wasn't anywhere nearby. Also Akaya would hopefully forget about her phobia against spiders. By the way he asked she worried for another attack from her blindside now. Even if he had saved her back then, the happy grin he wore she was wary of. If he wasn't as curious as he was, she might have suspected him a pawn to Niou's schemes but alas, Ryo told her off on that line of thought.

It was even more awesome than she thought to have another ally. Toshio couldn't do much when Niou knew that a wrong word would reach her ears via her brother. But nobody suspected Ryo of anything!

The two exchanged theories and possible dangers all over the place. Niou had to have accomplices if he wanted to achieve some of these pranks. And Ryo was going to keep an eye out on the possible candidats. Looking over her shoulder, she spotted him casually glancing all over the fields, wary of any surprise attacks. The perfect and perceptive spy.

Haruma suddenly broke the silence. "You get a lot of special treatment, don't you, kid?"

She shot him a curious glance. "Why do you think that?" Out of all the things that would be the least thing she would think of, considering all her adventures in Japan so far.

He leaned back casually and rested his arms on the back lean. "Specifically asked by Yukimura to join. Getting this fast into the Top 8 non-regulars. Hanging around the regulars like it's nothing," he monotonously counted down.

"You really don't wanna bury your grudge?" she asked him again. This was plain ridiculous. They'd never found even ground again. He was apparently miffed about her skills. She was miffed about his stubbornness. Still, she tried one more time. Maybe because the day had been in the name of allies.

Haruma locked gazes with hers and she saw something dangerous glint in his brown eyes. "No." Minori rolled her eyes but he continued and caught her interest again. "Do you know why?" She shook her head. Now this was something new.

He beckoned her closer and with furrowed brows she complied. His breath brushed against her ear lobe as he whispered into it. "Because you're a desperate little girl."

Her heart skipped a beat but she kept up her facade. _I've been through this shit once already. _If she could face off Niou, then Haruma should prove no problem. She laughed loudly. "That's the weirdest reason I've ever heard. Ran out of mocking material?"

His eyes slitted briefly but then he turned serious again, his lips a straight line. "Trying to deny it. How cute."

She furrowed her brows and shook her head in mock-disbelief. "Are you stupid?" She pointed at the two players rallying right in front of them. "There's about fifty guys in the team. I've been to the nurse for check-ups. Don't you think somebody would notice if I'm missing my wang?"

With each sentence his eyes sparked with unrestrained anger. When she cocked a brow provocatively for an answer he snapped and pulled her in by her collar. "I don't know how you do this. But just so you know: I don't have much qualms about telling that to everybody unlike your dear Niou." That shut her up so violently, the left-over energy she still had seeped out of her like from a balloon.

_Niou. _He'd made her whole day a small living hell but she'd never expected him to actually tell somebody else. He told her she wasn't off the hook but he never intended to tell somebody. Or so she'd thought.

She didn't even notice as Haruma let go of her with a visibly pleased expression on his face. The same question from the morning popped up in her mind, although less comical and with a bittersweet aftertaste. Should she have been this surprised? And she answered it the same, heart sinking low and heavy.

Apparently not.

"I could finish it right here," _No. _He couldn't tell anybody. Not now. Not this sudden. Not _he. _"and right now." He started to get up.

Without thinking, she reached out and punched him straight in the face.

* * *

_CLIFFHANGER! Booya!  
_

_Who expected this twist? Be truthful! Haruma knows, Haruma knows. Hehehe. Seriously Minori. Starting your fourth week in Japan (yes, I have a timeline) and two people have already found out your secret.  
_

_Let me be this happy. This chapter was a lot more difficult to write than expected. The outlines were there but they got twisted in all sorts of ways that got me headaches all the times. Also another new cover. This one is quite fitting for the looks of our dear Minori, if a little bit too dark in hair color. Short hair, casual stride. 'Wtf-am-I-doing-here' eyes. I'm quite pleased with it.  
_

_Anonymous reviewers galore:_

**_Black Rabbit-san:_**_ Not quite as anonymous. ;) Glad you like their family! They're sheer joy to write. _

**_CryingMyHeartOut: _**_Thanks for reviewing and for liking my writing style! I hope I've improved since the first chapters because it darn feels like it to me. Although not for this chapter. This chapter didn't feel smoothly written at all!  
_

**_Yuu: _**_Glad you like it!_


	12. Chapter 12

**I don't own Prince of Tennis.**

* * *

Haruma's head snapped to the side when her fist connected with his face. A throbbing and shivering pain crawled up her arm the moments her knuckles hit flesh and bones, sending a flash of white temporarily clouding her eyes.

For a moment time froze. Nobody noticed the pair, nobody noticed what just happened. They themselves simply stood there like statues as realization dawned upon them.

Then time unwound in dangerous speeds.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him, reaching out with his free hand. The punch came suddenly, even though she saw his hand coming down clearly. Her stomach churned in pain as it connected and she gasped at the numbing sensation. Her hands flew to her stomach, freed for the briefest of moments to spot the murderous intent flaring in his eyes.

Instinct kicked in and she stumbled out of the way, ignoring the ache in her stomach with each step she took. "Minorin!" a familiar voice called out but she didn't dare look back, didn't dare avert her eyes from the danger inching closer towards her.

Suddenly he darted forward, a sneer on his face, and she barely managed to duck and sidestep him. If he got her she was dead. Her blood rushed loudly past her ears. A hand clasped around her leg and took her feeting away. With flailing arms she slammed into the ground, the rough surface chafing her skin open.

Worried - fearful - screams reached them from the other side of the fences, grabbing attention and trying to help. She heard people shout their names but as she looked up all he saw were his lips moving next to a blooming red cheek that was her work, insulting her in the lowest levels possible. "I'd do this every day, bastard," she growled low and deep before she kicked and clawed at his sore face to free herself. It was the will of the desperate, the ones who had nothing to lose anymore that kept her body up and working, her mind sharp and the pain dull from adrenaline.

With a strong tug she was out of his grasp again, breathing labored on all fours. Hands spawned across Haruma's chest, trying to hold him back but he buckled like an angry bull. In his fuming he reached out for the person grabbing him and in that split-second Minori noticed with dread who exactly it was.

_They sat by the windowsill at the end of the corridor, only the two of the usual trio for once. "So, all I need you to do is watch over me. Be my eyes on the back of my head," she added a little dramatic with a wink. No need to get hurt all over for her. That was the point of a spy._

_He raised an imaginary sword high up in the air. "I shall defend you with my life!" So much for spies. He lowered it and imaginary leaned down on the blade. "You're too much of a troublemaker to leave be," he clicked his tongue with a shake of his head._

___"You offered to help yourself." She crossed her arms with a playful pout and he laughed._

"Ryo!" she called out and moved without thought.

_"We're friends. I take your hit and you take mine."_

The next hit sent her flying into the fence.

_She was still for a moment before a warm smile spread out on her face. "Idiot."_

Her vision shook and shattered in motion to the fence. Once her body slumped to the ground she curled up into a tight ball, clutching her head with a barely restrained sob. Loud, steady pounding inside her skull was her company for long, drawn-out moments, alongside a high-pitched beeping sound.

Members moved uncontrollably to reach the struggling and tangled mess of limbs of Ryo and Haruma. All of them were idiots, including her. She half grunted, half laughed as a tear escaped the corner of her eye in pain and her vision returned; the ground in front of her clear and sharp again. Red spots adorned it that hadn't been there moments before. She spat the metallic taste in her mouth out and with a sickening sploshing sound more red oozed onto the floor in a thick, sticky line.

"What is the meaning of this?" Yukimura's voice cut through the air like a blade and stilled the commotion fully. Nobody dared move a muscle any longer as he marked his presence. Even Haruma stopped in his struggles but one _boy_ didn't.

She looked up to find four club members taking a firm hold of the broad Haruma. Although he stopped struggling, his fists were clenched together tightly and his eyes never lost its angry bite. Heh. Too bad she wasn't in elementary school any longer. Too bad he couldn't shut her up like this - but she could _him._

"Cat got your tongue, Haruma?" she drawled and steadied her weight on one arm. That her fingers gripped the wet and dirty-red ground didn't matter to her. "Captain asked a question." She grinned coldly but judging from the hisses of the gathered team it wasn't a particularly reassuring sight. Out of the corners of her sight she spotted the deep green eyes of Akaya in the front rows next to Yukimura, his face frozen in a surprised stare. Nobody quite expected the day to end like this.

"You really are shameless," Haruma snarled back. Minori's eyes gleamed dangerously. Just what she wished for.

With one hand clutched to the fence, she slowly pulled herself up. "'Shameless'. What a word to use after _this._" She pointed at her barely standing body. Adrenaline was still coursing through her veins but the dulling effect wouldn't last forever. "Just say your reasons, Haruma. Tell them the truth. I'm sure they'd feel just as _proud_ and _manly _about this sort of victory."

That shut his mouth as quickly close as his provocation earlier had done to her. All eyes were on them, the tension so tangible between the pair that it threatened to spill into another fit of rage. Ryo hurried over to her, helped steadying her on her feet and maybe just prevent another assault. His face was filled with worry but she was glad he hadn't gotten hurt over her stupid, spontanous reaction. He was friends with the male Minori. The female had to take the hits on her own.

The silence spread on. She cocked another jeering grin. This was the French witch's genes finally spilled out to the maximum. "If you don't wanna talk, let me speak for you then. How you shamelessly beat up a-"

_"Shut up!" _he yelled.

The victorious grin threatened to split her face in two.

"I really don't wish to interrupt this lovely show, Captain, but that guy is going to bleed to death," Niou spoke up and walked into the open circle with his thumb jerked towards Minori.

"I take it none of you will tell me the reasons for this disturbance?" Yukimura asked the two. Minori glanced at Haruma who shook his head with gritted teeth. She promptly followed his example.

Yukimura sighed but his face was no less stern as he addressed the boys holding the 3rd-year back. "Take Haruma to the changing rooms and treat him an icebag there," Yukimura said through slitted eyes. Then he nodded at her. "Get going to the infirmary. The nurse should still be there." But he wouldn't be the captain of the victory-confident Rikkaidai tennis club if he let it be just at that. There was an obvious animosity between the 3rd- and 2nd-year that just couldn't be easily healed and knitted together.

"Cause another commotion - _any_ sort of commotion - and you're both off the team. Have I made myself clear?" They slowly nodded in unison.

Little did they all know his words would turn true one day.

* * *

Pain.

Her whole being was composed of it.

Each slight bobbing motion sent another wave of pain coursing through her battered body. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that if it weren't for Niou's secure hold on her and his careful stride as he ascended every flight of stairs, she'd have slipped off more times than she could count. Curse the lack of adrenaline now. It was worse than she'd anticipated.

Especially once her mind calmed - or somewhat looked past the fog of anger and challenge - there was no stopping her rattling thoughts. Honestly, why had she punched him? It was a moment of madness, of desperation, of simply _not thinking straight. _The consequences... she didn't even want to think about them. They hurt more than her whole body altogether. Her heart clenched together at the prospect of losing it all: the disguise, the sports, the friends she'd made. Haruma wouldn't keep his mouth shut. This was just a temporary gain. Living on borrowed time.

Again.

"Why?" she managed as she faintly noticed them entering the infirmary. "Why did you tell him?" The nurse scrambled to her feet and scurried over to the bed Niou slowly slid her down onto. Her body slumped instantly, boneless and without strength. Her head was on fire, her knuckles throbbed and her elbows flared up in pain the moment they brushed the cool fabric of her uniform shirt. Once she'd started walking towards the infirmary as ordered, she'd stumbled into Ryo's arms. Yet it was Niou that offered her his back and told her classmate to get her stuff, call her family, instead of going along to the nurse.

"Thank you for bringing him in but I have to ask you to leave now," the nurse started. "Have you contacted-"

"He stays," Minori interrupted firmly, her eyes set on the ground. "He knows," she mumbled towards the woman, then raised her gaze up to meet Niou's unreadable one. "He _knows_," she repeated sharply. Anger, disappointment, sadness. A whirlwind of feelings - and another wave of pain. Goddamn, it _hurt._

After a second's contemplation, he casually plopped down on the bed opposite her, stretching his legs out long. He leaned slightly back with his palms resting on the bed and holding his weight and upper body in place. The nurse threw her hands up in defeat and gathered her supplies.

The minutes passed between the two middle schoolers but nobody opened their mouth for another sentence. Only when the nurse started dabbing the soft cotton balls drenched with the smell of disinfection did Niou answer her question.

"I didn't," he curtly said.

She slit her eyes. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Depends on the situation," he shot back. She openly glared at him but he continued before she managed a retort of her own. "Currently I believe you're below even Bakaya's level of stupidity. I bet you didn't think at all when you started a fight with that guy. You're pretty emotional after all; so easy to provoke-"

With a growl her hand was around his collar and they both tumbled into the bed. She half stood, half knelt on the clean sheets above him, heaving alongside the heavy pounding of her heart. A slight dizziness followed her sudden actions but she brushed it aside to glare at him.

Niou stared back unaffected. "And you just _love_ to prove the points."

"Even if you are officially a boy doesn't mean I'll let you act like one," the nurse chipped in angrily and grabbed her shoulder firmly, pulling her back. "Especially not in _my infirmary._ Are we clear?" A mechanical nod was all she received.

Her eyes never strayed from the trickster pulling himself back up into a sitting position. With the cotton ball preoccupied next to her forehead, she dared talk without worrying about the nurse's wrath. "And you love to completely break me."

He rose a brow. "Who do you think I am - your friend? We've never been on the same side."

"I thought you'd keep your word. I thought you had some sort of _pride,_" she scoffed.

"She's deaf again." He said to no one in particular, playing at the same dab he'd played in the past. "I just said I didn't tell him. Why would I? Hell, I carried you myself to the infirmary for obvious reasons." He nodded at the nurse who barely shot him a glance. Both part of the conspiracy that was her gender. Niou leaned forwards, the tips of his silver hair framing his eyes dangerously. "_I _will reveal your secret. Nobody else." That is, if Yukimura continues to be as fine and healthy as he is. If not... she glanced at him. They might just end up on 'the same side'.

"So you're saying you had nothing to do with this all?" Minori shook her head. "Then how does he know?"

Niou fell back, shoulders meeting the cool surface of sheets. He clicked his tongue in thought. "Beats me."

With the quiet and calm settling in, she finally noticed the silver tray next to her on the sheets and the rows of cotton and bottles next to the nurse. She dreaded looking in a mirror, the tray already offering a little deformed reflection of her battered face. The split lips caught her attention, bloody red and raw. When the nurse slowly worked her way down to them, she picked up bits of gravel stuck to the open wound. Hitting the tray, they glistened moistly from blood. Minori paused.

Moisture.

Then she cursed loudly.

"By the sinks after my match with Yanagi," she said into the room with a groan. If she could she would have buried her face in her hands. Niou'd called her _little girl._ Could that really have been enough for the passing by Haruma to realize? She remembered Niou's words. Enough to provoke her maybe - and that he successfully did.

"You suck as a trickster," she added flatly. Always annoying and poking at her, trying to provoke a mistake but it was his own carelessness that sent his plan spiraling out of his control.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He swung himself up and propped his head on his palm, grinning smugly. "This is still my game. I decide when it is over."

She really didn't feel like arguing any longer. All her energy seeped out of her. It was over, the fun ended. It was only a matter of time that Haruma gathered his pride off the floor and started talking. Just as simple as that. "Don't be a sore loser. You can't tape his mouth shut."

"I can always staple it."

She blinked stupidly before laughter bubbled up so suddenly she couldn't contain it. Even as her face burned up in pain again she didn't stop, clutching her stomach tightly. The occasional tear escaped from the corner of her eyes, whether from physical pain again or the one in her heart. Despite all the struggles, she'd come to love this screwed up situation of hers. She didn't _want _it to end yet.

And she already had an idea forming itself in the back of her mind.

* * *

_Almost **not at all** completely late. Haha. Ha. ...  
_

_So sorry. v_v_

_You should just see the amount of work this chapter piled up. This is what, the fourth version of this bloody thing? All versions differed in perspective, in drama, in revenge acts and comedy and emotions. None quite fit. I've played with POV's from Yukimura, Akaya, Niou, considered Marui and Ryo but discarded them, Minori's mom(yes, indeed!) before I settled with this version._

_I was also three weeks on vacation in between writing and couldn't get anything done anyway. The chapter should've been released earlier but because of said above it didn't. After the vacation break and my return last weekend I immediately sat down - and wrote another two different versions until this. And haaa... this story is killing me sometimes. At least the pace will soon pick up with the canon events happening - oh wait._

_I have to think up opponents then._

_askdjalkejaklejd._

_Anonymous reviewers:_

**_I'mATotalWreak:_**_ Glad you like the story! Doesn't matter if you have no account, I'm happy you just found the time to write a small sentence or two. Also your cheering has been noted. Soon there'll be much more action from the Devil's side, I assure you.  
_

**_ABF8:_** _I have updated as you have commanded! Hope you enjoyed this belated chapter! :)_


	13. Chapter 13

**I don't own Prince of Tennis.**

**Super long chapter to compensate for the shorter one last time! Whee!**

* * *

The room was silent for the briefest of moments, so quiet that one could hear the faint electrical hum of the bright lamps on the ceiling. The nurse, going by the name ironic name of Matsuo Naoko, swallowed a disbelieving gulp. All it missed were cicades singing to round out the scene.

This was no longer an ordinary disguise.

Masaharu Niou, usually known as the school's most prominent trickster, had difficulties keeping his poker face straight. Depending on who his eyes locked on, his lips threatened to derail into a sardonic grin or a displeased snarl. The brandnew bandages around his arm already glared a bright red.

The usually childishly loud Kirihara Akaya's mouth was frozen in a grotesque face of horror, the red tennis bag he'd carried in slowly sliding off his shoulders. And the boy hadn't even seen it all. Yet... it might just have worked. Her eyes slid over to the bed.

The girl posing as a boy: Kobayashi Minori.

A potential lunatic, really.

* * *

**Day 1  
**

* * *

The energetic black-head slammed the door open and leapt inside. "MINO–"

A pen hit him square in the face and he howled out in pain.

The tiredly gathered class jumped out of their skins at the noisy sounds, fearing for their dear lives. As the boy calmed down, he stared blankly at his hands, turning them to all sides as if checking for blood. All that got wounded, though, was his cheek: a harsh blue smear up till his ear. "That could've been my eye!" Ryo yelled.

Akaya send him a lazy glare, not even bothering to lift his curly head off his arms. "Then don't be so loud in the morning." The very same pen whizzed past his face in response and his eyes widened. "Oi! Don't throw my pen around!" He cried out as his head did shoot up.

"You threw it first!"

"But it's _my _pen!"

"Ah?! You want me to throw_ my_ pens then?" Ryo instantly turned his backpack upfront, unzipping and rummaging through it in record speed.

"Would you _both _shut up!" a few classmates yelled back over their shoulders. Ryo and Akaya teamed up to glare at the dangerously glinting wall of eyes, their bickering briefly forgotten. That was usually the moment Minori intervened – or was forcefully dragged towards the minority's side. Which would then result in a tumultous uproar from the female population in class. Where it went after that always stood written in the stars. But today nothing of the sorts happened.

Clearly missing that usual routine, Ryo's eyes glided over to the empty seat in the second last row.

His back hunched sadly, his body suddenly boneless jelly. "Minori didn't come to school? What a bummer."

Akaya paled. Memories tore through the hazy surface of his tired mind and he fought to keep them at bay. "You should've seen him," he mumbled with his eyes cast to the side.

_Minori's tennis bag crashed to the ground. The sound snapped his frozen body back to reality. Suddenly his vision darkened around the edges, forming an all too familiar tunnel vision. Anger tugged at him, clenching his teeth and his fists. "I'll kill him," he simply said and turned on his heel._

_"Oi, Bakaya. There's no use for another corpse," Niou-senpai called out and gripped him firmly by his shoulder. He followed the arm high up to the shoulders where the white of his shirt was smeared red. His heart beat deafening loud in his ears, the anger threatening to drown him as if he were in a match. So much blood... _

_"I'm still alive, thank you," a much fainter voice retorted. "Akaya," he addressed him directly and mechanically the Junior Ace turned to face his classmate again. Red. Red, red, red everywhere. His skin, his shirt, his eyes, his lips. Still they formed a smile; and the gray of his eyes danced, unyielding as steel. "Promise me you'll leave him be. This is my revenge."_

Ryo plopped his elbows on his desk and crouched on the ground. "Yukimura-buchou wanted to check me for injuries, too." He paused and furrowed his brows. "You sure it was _that _bad? I mean it didn't look much worse than what you did on his first day." A slight pause. "Idiot jumped into the punch," he mumbled with a sigh.

"There was blood everywhere," Akaya said with a shake of his head. Their first meet-up had been bloody but nothing compared to the amount he'd seen in the infirmary as he brought his classmates his stuff. The metallic smell had filled his nostrils the moment he stepped inside and even now he had a revolting taste on his tongue. _Red. _It didn't go well with that gray...

"Maybe you beat him up subconsciously?" Ryo offered, trying to lighten the mood. "You looked just as angry as Haruma when you came back. Maybe the Devil–"

"Poor Minori-kun," a gentle voice interrupted with a nod of her head. Ryo and Akaya jumped back in a start. The two tennis members barely managed to hold onto the nearest tables, with Akaya dangerously dangling on two feet of his chair and Ryo craning his back in ways only Marui-senpai ever should.

"Stop doing that!" They exclaimed in unison at the long-haired girl. Chiaki peeked at them through one eye.

"I'm just a little quiet," she answered with a shrug. Innocence radiated off her but he would be damned if she didn't know the exact reach of her ninja-silent abilities. How'd Minori manage to notice the girl no matter where she stood and they couldn't?! What sort of sixth sense did that guy own? "Poor Minori-kun. I hope he gets better soon," she continued unperturbed. Her long hair fell forward, brushing the wooden desk.

"He's a zombie now," Akaya retorted and swung himself back into the right position.

Chiaki slitted her eyes. The straight-cut bangs didn't help the stern glare at all. "Akaya-kun."

"I didn't do it this time, I swear!" He nodded fervently at Ryo, too, just in case he had anything to add. Chiaki was the mother hen when it came to the transfer student. Always watching out for him, making sure he adapted well. Hence the dangerous Junior Ace had been under her radar quite some times.

"I just wanted to say that's not very nice to say of your friend." She blinked perplexed.

Oh?

Phew.

Maybe he'd learned to maneuver girls a little better after hanging out with the transfer student and his magical gift. He lead his head back to his arms and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just like that. Suck it up, you guys."

She slitted her eyes. "Akaya-kun."

_GODDAMNIT!_

* * *

**Day 2**

* * *

If they'd listened more closely, then the echo of steady clicking would've warned them seconds before she actually entered. As it was, it was her voice that snatched the class' attention during break instantly. "Toshio, _tu m'as tellement manqué!_ (I missed you so much!)"

The elder transfer student's face completely derailed in shock. "Wha–what the hell are _you _doing here?" he spluttered out. Niou grinned to himself. This promised to be a good show already.

Kobayashi Sylvie pouted heartbroken as she wound her way towards her son past gaping students. Yes, the similarity was ever astonishing and he would bet his allowance her showing up in school while Minori was still amiss was to some degree planned. The honey hair was pulled back in a low pony tail and the pale blouse swayed gently with each step, especially enticing by the ruffled arms. A woman through and through.

_"But the only trick you could pull off is cosplaying as a __girl_. Just look at those shoulders." He felt her wince under his fingers and the inner smirk grew wider.

_Then Minori looked up at him before shrugging. "It's no __secret _I look like one. I'm taking after mother."

Taking after her, indeed. Even the blind would believe that now.

Halfway there she met the familiar red-head of the team and stopped right next to the surprised him, casually leaning down on his shoulder. Gray orbs grinned in mischief. "Is that a way to greet his mother? What do you say, Marui-kun?" Her palm was half-pointing at Toshio.

After some blinking to gather his wits back and take reality in, he grinned. "He's just embarrassed. Please forgive him," he answered with a far-stretched grin.

"It's just that sensitive time for young men," Niou continued, purring next to Toshio's ear. With instincts resembling that of a cat he jumped up to his feet and away from him. He easily towered over them all, height close to the data master Yanagi. But his eyes shifted suspiciously back and forth between them all.

"Bloody traitors," he said as he pointed at both his classmates.

Niou glanced down at his patched up left arm. _Not so much.  
_

"That uncouth mouth is all you two inherited from me," Sylvie sighed. Before Toshio could even muster an answer, she raised her hand. "I am here for three things. One," she walked past her son and stopped in front of the trickster with a quick bow. "Thank you for taking care of my _son._" There was a breath of an emphasis on the last word, meant only for those that knew and those with particularly keen perception.

Niou smirked. _Son_, huh? "No big deal, puri." Was he only imagining things or did her eyes hold a _very _dangerous glint?

"Two." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. Very, very dangerous. "I assume the culprit is the boy in the front rows refusing to meet my eye."

Heads snapped to the front and the room suddenly went hot in temperatures and dead silent. Haruma's shoulders visibly tensed. Uh-oh. Right where it hurts.

Toshio straightened his face, the corners of his lips low in serious demeanor. "Why, _maman, _his fist only slipped. Do not blame him. Minori must be at fault as well," he drawled with a nasal twang. Instantly he went from surprise to acting.

Slyvie placed a hand over her mouth and one over her son's chest. "But son, your _brother_ almost got delivered to hospital – and I am a professional judge." She batted her painted lashes before she shook her head. "If it weren't for reason number three, that might just have happened."

"Reason number three?" he asked with a cocked head.

She withdrew her hands. "Three!" Her hair whipped back as she raised three fingers high in a pompous pose, with one hand on her hips. The tense atmosphere and hot temperature in the classroom instantly dropped a few levels at the comical sideshow. "I got lost searching the infirmary. I have got to thank the genius nurse patching my dear _son _back up. Might invite her for dinner once I get that blood stain out of the table."

The temperature swung back and forth, unsure of cold and hot. _Getting lost. Nurse. Blood._

He elegantly placed his arm around her waist and led her out of classroom, his initial dismissive behavior completely blast away. "Ah, yes. Minori the klutz and _his numb shoulder_..." his voice trailed off as the pair disappeared behind the door frame and deeper into the corridor.

Class 3-B was stunned to silence. _Like a whirlwind they do as they please..._

Niou and Marui exchanged a glance. "I'm not sure whom I should worry about more: Minorin or Haruma," the smaller mused aloud. Niou glanced at Haruma's back. To be talked about; about a matter you couldn't right without worsening your image all the more. To be provoced to a teeth-crunching degree but with nothing to hold onto but shame when faced with the family of all things. One never wanted to meet the parents of the child one beat up.

Niou then glanced at the brandnew bandages around his lower arm again.

"Definitely not them."

* * *

**Day 3**

* * *

"Run another thirty rounds one-legged," the blue-haired captain shouted like a shepherd. "Yes, even you Haruma. That patch does not hinder your practice." The auburn-haired boy grumbled something under his sweaty breath but complied just like the rest of the team. Apart from one.

"Yagyuu, do you have a question?" he asked politely as the boy came closer.

The 3rd-year pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "A reprimand. Yukimura-buchou is on his way, so you may stop your illusion."

The gentle face quickly morphed into a finer, more developed one with a mole just below his lips. "Spoilsport," he said with glinting eyes as he pulled off the wig and shook his messy hair back in form. The rat-tail by his neck did feel the most familiar and comfortable. With a shrug of his shoulders the jacket flew off and he quickly slid his arms inside instead of letting it dangle to the side in Yukimura-buchou's fashion. "But they keep on running, nice," he hummed in approval.

"It's a small miracle nobody noticed the difference. You keep your left arm hidden all the time," he continued his calculated break-down of his doubles partner. Niou pulled the bandaged hand out. He knew him all too well. That was almost a little dangerous to his image. "You still wouldn't tell me how you got injured?"

His mood took a little cushion at the direct mention.

Definitely not without strangling a certain madwoman in the process.

* * *

_He let the girl's laughter die down, watching curiously as her face occasionally twisted in a grimace of pain and sadness. Even a tear or two he spotted but made no comment; because when she straightened her back, her eyes threatened to drown him whole in their determination. It took all of his gathered willpower to not allow that to happen. She had ways of reeling people in that scared him. _

_He didn't want to lose himself there.  
_

_Her head snapped to the side, towards the school's nurse. "Do you keep some blood for transfusions here?"_

_Matsuo-san blinked bewildered. "I am not a hospital. What would you need that for?" But Minori was already up on her feet, eyes scanning the whole vicinity of the room. "Would you sit down and let me treat you, _please._" Clearly, the nurse had enough of this farce. How many times had Minori already interrupted her work in the past five minutes alone, he mused.  
_

_"I need something gory. Paint," she said directed at him._

_Now he was interested. He could guess where this lead to. "The art room is on the other side of the school. Most likely locked." He paused. "Plus, since I guess Yukimura-buchou will let you off practice today, somebody's bound to be on his way to bring you your stuff." She cursed shamelessly but didn't let it hinder her plans at all.  
_

_Without further ado she raced to the back of the room, rummaging through numerous drawers. "Kobayashi Minori! What do you think you're doing, you ungrateful brat!" Matsuo-san yelled after her and stepped up to stop the suddenly too energetic girl-in-disguise. "I'm not your accomplice to let you raid my– place that down instantly." Her voice took a sharp edge and Niou craned his neck to see what she meant._

_"I just need a little. I've got to_ _look _much worse _than this. Almost in need of hospital treatment if I want him to shut up." Something glinted suspiciously but a doctor's white coat shuffled in front of the item._

_"You _will _be in need of hospital treatment if you take your own bloody_ blood!_" Matsuo-san reached for Minori's wrist but she easily escaped her grasp._

_With a large syringe in her hand._

_His eyes widened and inadvertly he stood up, arms twitching reflexively to take the dangerous item from her grasp. Was she completely out of her mind? How desperate could one be to try to keep a secret?_

_"I'm a nurse's daughter. I know how to do this," she pressed on, dancing through the room, ever so slightly out of reach of the actual nurse's groping arm."I just need to _look_ the part. One pull!" _

_With each dodge she took a step closer towards him, her back inching closer in the circle she passed through the room. __He'd better act before this went out of control completely._  


_"Just rest, you idiot," he muttered non-humored and slung his arms over her shoulders when she was a foot away. He quickly snatched after the syringe in her right hand but she buckled against his hold, trying to free herself. The syringe darted out of his reach and threatened to pierce him each time he got to close to her wrist. If she'd only relent for once...!  
_

_Out of the corners of his eyes he saw her raise her foot and reacted just in time to avoid getting stomped. His hold around her neck tightened and she choked, instinctively bending her body to release the pressure. Cold metal met his legs and before he knew it they both stumbled backwards into the bed again. The bottles rowed on the bed crunched under their weight and bumped against his head; the bloodied tray crashed into the ground under loud clattering. "Stop struggling!" he shouted unnerved._

_"Stop it, both of you!" came the call from the nurse._

_All it did was force out an even stronger reaction from the transfer student. She didn't mind the pain on her face, the lips that split up open again and the blood that trickled down her collarbone. Her legs kicked and her arms flailed but with one of his longer legs he kept her steady for the briefest of seconds – just enough to finally wring the syringe out of her hand. A sharp pain erupted from his finger but he had barely the time to spot the small driblet of blood on it when Minori freed herself yet again._

_She turned around, the blood on her collarbone dripping onto his shirt and her own. She reached out for the syringe again. "Why are you fighting me?!" she asked labored. "I thought we weren't on the same side!"_

_He chopped her hard in the arm that it bent beneath her weight and sent her crashing into his chest. "You don't need to go that far!" Yukimura didn't even know. Nobody knew __–_ nobody should know. Why was she still struggling so much?  


_And then a sharp pain jolted up and down his body. An angry growl left his lips and he shoved her off him without a second thought. His hand shot around his left arm as she hit the ground ungracefully. "Are you serious?" he snarled. Her eyes glinted victoriously when she picked herself up and blood smeared her mouth and face all the more. The collar of her shirt was speckled in dark spots.  
_

_He raised his hand to glance at the wound below. She'd clamped down hard enough to tear through his skin. The rows of teeth were barely distinguishable against the red oozing out."__You bit me!_" he said with disbelief. _This girl__ infuriated him just as much as she amused him._  


_"Now I look the part," she grinned her bloody grin. With his blood on her. He glanced at his own collar. Her blood on him. Determination, he remembered. For a moment she got him. Caught him in that net of hers.  
_

_Seriously, she was completely nuts._

_And he found himself completely fine with that._

_The door clicked open behind them. "I'm here to__–_"

_"Five more minutes." The fuming nurse rudely slammed the door shut on the seaweed's face.  
_

* * *

"That secret I'll gladly take to my grave," he answered Yagyuu. He could see his partner's eyes twitch in provocation. He wasn't pleased by that.

"You are very secretive to everything regarding Minori-kun," he said as he righted his glasses again.

Niou smirked. "Is that jealousy I hear, Hiroshi?"

"I_–_ no!"

It was a weak fit of coughs that saved him from the trickster's next verbal onslaught. Their heads whipped around to the captain and vice-captain approaching them.

"Are you certain you're well, Seiichi?" Sanada asked as the coughing died down.

Yukimura waved him off. "My sister caught a cold and now it's caught me. One day's rest should have to suffice." He glanced at the doubles pair. "I see you managed the club just fine as always in my stead, Niou."

The trickster smirked but beneath the facade the smile didn't stretch very far. Their captain was paler than usual, his eyes dazed and absent. Just the day before he'd missed out in school, a fact duly noted by the team preparing for the next week's tournament. He certainly couldn't just have rested because of a simple cold. He wasn't the type for that. If Minori told the truth...

"You should consider resting some more, Yukimura-san. I believe the vice-captain can handle the prefecturals meeting well by himself," Yagyuu offered politely. Ever the gentleman.

Sanada eyed his sickly friend. "Ah. But he wouldn't hear a word of it."

Yukimura chuckled as he walked off towards the changing rooms. "What sort of captain would I be to leave my team alone at this critical time?"

* * *

**Day 4**

* * *

The halls emptied in record speed. Whenever the bell rung for the last time on Friday, Rikkaidai students darted off into the weekend with twice the speed and vigor as usual. It didn't help that the weather promised to stay as great as it did already.

Ryo and Akaya just slipped into their respective street shoes when they randomly spotted the tall, muscled form of Kobayashi Toshio heading for the exit with the same haste. It was Ryo that burst into a thousand incomprehensible sounds and stormed right after him with the serious face of a man of warfare. Akaya slammed his head against the boxes.

Was there no stopping him?

Ever?

"Can we visit Minori? Is he all right? He's not still in hospital is he?" he blurted out the moment he caught up with the elder brother. Toshio halted near the double doors. His face went from amused to full out grinning once he recognized the 2nd-years approaching him.

Akaya had seen Minori himself that day in the infirmary. He hoped he hadn't, especially with the rumors reaching new peaks regarding him. Haruma beat him hospital-ready. A dislocated shoulder. Missing teeth. Broken ribs. A face that needed surgery to heal. He'd transfer schools again. His mother a wreck. Everything he'd heard. The girls had wept. Ryo had definitely wept his ears off. And Akaya...

... he'd made sure to let the occasional stray tennis ball hit Haruma straight in the gut during practice, really.

"Yes, you can. Yes, he's fine. No, he isn't in hospital," Toshio answered one by one. Akaya eyed the tall boy curiously. He hadn't really spoken to him all that much, given that if he needed to go to the 3rd-years' halls at all, it was mainly because of the captain. Only if Marui dragged him off to the deepest corners somewhere did he ever go for another reason.

Yet this was _his_ brother _–_ _family_. Somehow the fact didn't quite fit in. The feeling they gave off was completely different, just like their differing looks and he undoubtedly found himself liking the younger one more.

_Red. __His skin, his shirt, his eyes, his lips. All red._ Akaya clenched his eyes close.

Okay! He was just a weensy bit worried, too. Those rumors made his head spin. There was no way to be certain of what was true and what not.

Toshio placed his hands inside the pockets of his pants. "Just come along then," he said cheery. Ryo fisted the air excitedly but Akaya shook his head.

"I got the prefecturals meeting today." Ryo pouted.

"Right, you're a regular," he mumbled. "And I was all excited by myself." Akaya rolled his eyes.

"Well, that's too bad then," Toshio chimed back in. With a shrug he added a "Maybe next time. I'm sure Minori would like you visiting. You're good friends, I heard." His grin was toothy, broad and so sincere. Now _that _reminded him of a certain almost-a-head-smaller brother. Of his smile beneath that red_–_

He gnawed on his his lower lip. "G-Greet him or something," he muttered and with a wave went his own ways.

_Seriously, stop this feeling.  
_

* * *

Her thumbs slid over the buttons of the controller with expertise ease. With a sharp, screeching turn the car on the TV turned around the corner, mere inches from crashing into another virtual four-wheeler. She whistled proudly at herself as she turned up first. When she crossed the checkered finish line, she bumped her fists high up into the air.

Just as she reached for another pretzel stick, the entrance door clicked. "Welcome back," she shouted towards the returnee. One last glance down at herself and she was ready for all he had in store. Everything was concealed, everything was fine. Bless the sweatpants. Just as she bit down, a familiar purple-black peeked from behind the door frame into the living room.

"Yo," she greeted with a peace sign.

_Crack._

Why could she not learn that she'd _never _be ready for anything regarding Satsunomi Ryo?

"_Ohmydeargodinheaven_ – you're not dead!" Ryo glomped her, squeezing her hard between his arms. The pretzel stick crumbled to dust on her face.

She flatly waved a hand she could still move. "I... will be... if you cut off m-my w-windpipe," she croaked out between breaths. The piece she'd bitten off slowly slid down her throat. The next moment she greedily sucked in the sweet scent of air as Ryo released her and coughed up some salt. Mercy on her poor existence. She was already dealing with enough as it was.

Not caring or seeing her near-death experience, Ryo immediately got to the points. "Why did you not contact us? You only answered one of my texts!" _Out of an estimated hundred, yes._ His sad face turned surprised. His moods swings were almost dizzying. "Wait a moment._ YOUR FACE!_"

_Now we're getting there. _"Pretty, right?" she answered and winked.

He cocked his head. "It's the same as always..." he answered truthfully _–_ ha! Why, thank you! _–_ before he caught himself, "WHICH IS THE POINT!"

"You should seriously consider taking up stand-up comedy," Minori said with a grin.

"Don't distract me!" He pinched her cheeks, pulling them apart, up and down, whichever way was possible. She blankly stared at him all the while, her lips pouting with the movement. Plopping every once in a while. "It's – why – _how_ – Akaya told me...! Everybody...!" _Plopplopplopplop._

She felt a weight on her head that shifted with each new word. _Splosh, _as Ryo let go of her abused cheeks. "Minori is an aspiring trickster after all~" Her brother's smooth voice vibrated through her skull and she could just feel the smug grin on his lips. She held her arm out and he and gave her a high five.

Haruma wouldn't tell _anyone_ how 'badly' he beat up a _girl_ now.

Minori cackled manically inside her mind. Ah, this was not good. The French witch inside her started to take over. She pursed her lips. Niou would not want another meeting of that sorts. She was sure she'd scarred him for life with her on-the-spur line of thoughts. But it sure was also fine to relax without worrying about anything for once.

And her face?

Healed up after a day and a half.

But Haruma didn't need to know_ that_.

For all the school, the students and _–_ inadvertedly _–_ he knew, she was seriously hurt and in need of this week off.

Toshio excused himself after a while, retreating to his room. Minori and Ryo very well fend for themselves, the time rushing by as they talked and fought, dramatized and sobered up. He quickly recovered from his hurt trust once she told him all behind her week off. He could kind of understand the reasoning although he was still confused as to why they had such a strong conflict going on at all. That was a mystery for her to keep a while longer.

It was a nice breather from the solitary confinement that was her home. She had to act the part and not leave it for fear of somebody spotting her on the streets. Hell, she was surprised Ryo turned up as late as he did, the way his mind overdramatized everything. But she was pretty lonely with nobody here and his presence a welcome change.

Yet it was an hour in that their banter came to an abrupt halt.

Ryo's phone rung and he fumbled it out of his pant pocket with muttered apology. "Hello?" He glanced at her but at the same time her own phone went off. With a curious frown at the timing, she picked it off the table and glanced at the number. _Mom._

"Yes?" she said into the phone.

_"Are you at Minori's place?" _she faintly heard from her classmate's side.

_"Minori!" _her mother exclaimed agitated on her end.

Ryo frowned. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Yes, it's me," she answered slowly. She turned to look at Ryo, who shrugged his shoulders as he returned the stare.

Then their eyes widened at the next words.

_"Yukimura was delivered to the hospital."_

* * *

_There you go! On time! I'm proud and pleased with myself. *pats shoulder*_

_Was it confusing? Enlightening? Downright dung? Favorite moment? Who spotted that ending? There's a lot going on after all. All part of the big scheme to cripple poor Haruma in his manly honor. And that worked out, yeah.  
_

_Here's some notes in regards to some of the context of the chapter:_

**M. Naoko** - '_**Naoko**' means '**obedient child**'. Which the nurse obviously isn't. (Aquaphobia, hinthint)_

_The French in this chapter is again not foolproof. Anyone finding mistakes is free to point them out. I'll make sure to correct them all. Also: Love the Sylvie. For she is an awesum mom._

_And poor Akaya. I love toying with him. Minori has the natural multi-tasking gift of the female species - and being a girl herself, she knows exactly just how to use it. To spot them approaching, to talk and deny them without scorn. It's magic!  
_

_Anonymous reviewers:_

**Music4evaLOVER** - _Glad you like the story and I have updated soon enough, I hope. :P I earned my first official bookmark with you then, yay! I shall keep a bookmark count now. Because that is what the world definitely needs. _

_And to _**Black Rabbit-san:**_There! A teensy-weensy bit of Sanada here! XD_


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